PERK Corp.

  
Initial Proposal:
RoboBuddy

San Marin High School

02/22/2021

Pranav Pannala, Evan Colenbrander, Ryan Miller, Kaleb Ryan

 Table of Contents

1. Initial Research

a. Marketing Research

b. Current Competitors

2. Project Objectives

a. Problems to address

3. Timeframe

4. Budget

5. Development Process

a. Engineering Design Cycle

b. Initial Research Questions

c. Survey Research

6. Verification Signatures

7. Citations

8. Appendix

a. Survey Graphs and Data

b. Design Sketches

c. 3D Product Models

2
 PERK Corp.  
Initial Research

Marketing Research

What do people care about?

Parents care about their children and value the education that their children will receive.
According to research conducted by ZERO TO THREE in 2015, 91% of parents say that
parenting is their greatest joy proving that the development of young children is a very
important issue for parents in the United States.

What is important to them?

Educational value and safety are both very important to parents. Consumers want a
practical robot type product that will be able to help their kids develop their social skills.
In addition, it is important that this product is safe to use for very young children.
Research conducted by GutCheck found that parents have a high appreciation for child
products that promote imagination. In addition, toys that fostered “communication,
pretend play, and general educational stimulation” were favored by parents.

What do they need?

Consumers will need a product that is easy to use indoors and on the go. It will most
likely be needed in households but it will also be portable so that it can be used in other
settings as well. Parents also need the design to be user friendly so both the child and
the parent can use the product with ease. An ideal timeframe for the product would be
during the COVID-19 pandemic when children’s social skills are most at risk. GutCheck
research also outlines four key areas that are needed for a child's product: durability,
uniqueness, holds attention, and emphasizes creativity or development. A non gender
specific design will also allow for the robot to be reused by siblings or other children
which parents agree is an added benefit

Target Demographic:

Children under the age of 5

3
Why is this age range ideal?
The best age range to consider for this product would be children under the age of five.
At this age the children are still developing their basic skills and our product will be able
to help them with this process. At this age, the children are also not in school yet so
parents will want to find ways to start educating their children. However, the product
should be marketed towards the parents of these children as children would not make
purchases.

Competitor Research

Do we have any competitors?

Yes, our main competitor is Moxie, a robot developed by Embodied, Inc. It has a price of
$1,500, with an additional $60-a-month subscription after the first year. It is ​designed as
a companion for children, capable of listening, interacting, and recognizing people. It's
marketed towards children between five and 10 years old and is f​unded by Amazon,
Toyota, Intel, and Sony.

How will we compete with them?

The main way that our product will compete with Moxie is with our much lower price.
Additionally, our product will focus more on child development and education instead of
being a companion. Our product will also be marketed to a lower age range.

4
 PERK Corp.  
Project Objectives
Problem: Young children are currently growing up without developing essential social
skills and manners.

Problem Definition: Increase children’s education in social skills and manners through
the use of an interactive product.

PERK Corp.  
Timeframe

Phase Start End

Project Proposal 01/09/21 02/22/21

Initial Iterations and Design 02/23/21 03/30/21

Final Iterations 03/31/21 05/04/21

Completion and Presentation 05/05/21 06/10/21

5
 PERK Corp.  
Budget

The main portion of our budget will go towards electronic components. The shell
to the robot will be prototyped with 3D printing so the only costs will be purchasing the
needed plastic filament. We intend to use free resources for any marketing outreach so
this will not require funding. Additionally, we will not need to pay salaries.

PERK Corp.  
Development Process

Our first step in the development process is to do research into the issue we hope to
accomplish and develop some initial possible solutions. Through online research and collecting
consumer opinions, we will narrow down our possible options. We plan on collecting data by
surveying possible consumers who would buy our product. These are the topics we will address
in the survey:

● Description of individual
● Age range
● Concern with privacy issues
● Additional concerns with technology
● Concerns with children interacting with the product
● Future of raising children with technology

6
 ● Impact of the digital age on child development
● Impact of isolation on child development
● Opinions on social skills
● Opinions on toys
● Physical designs for the product
● Possible price ranges

The next step in the development process will be to work on the specifications of our
design and begin to plan out aspects like the materials required, costs to manufacture, and how
the component will actually work.
After our initial iterations have been completed, we will then finalize our design
addressing any final changes that are necessary. The last step in our development process will
be to prepare our product to be presented to evaluators.
 

 
 

PERK Corp.  
Sources

Robot Design Research:

Competitor Research
Product Characteristics Research
Psychological Research:
Color Research
Characteristics of Children
Social Media Impacts
Parental Research:
Parenting Research
Parent’s Expectations

7
  
 

PERK Corp.  
Appendix

Product Functional Decomposition

Additional Resources:

Customer Survey:​ ​https://tinyurl.com/6a66ev8l

Brainstorming and Research Padlet:​ ​https://tinyurl.com/kv3u7slr

Time Management Plan: ​https://tinyurl.com/zvgnn9s3

8
 
PERK Corp.  
Verification Signatures

Mentor Approval Signatures:

Pieter Colenbrander Bethany Miller

____________________________________________________________________________
Evaluator Approval Signature:

Claudio Tronconi

____________________________________________________________________________
Team Member Signatures:

Pranav Pannala Evan Colenbrander

____________________________________________________________________________

Ryan Miller Kaleb Ryan

____________________________________________________________________________