The progress report summarizes the design of the Vtech Touch and Teach Turtle toy. It includes a product dissection that identifies the key components of the toy and their functions. Customer interviews were conducted to understand what features are important. The functional structure of the toy is described, showing how the components work together. Finally, relevant patents for the toy's technologies are identified and benchmarking is conducted.

1. 1
Project 1: Progress Report
Judy Fan
Steven Morales
Doug Taylor
Abstract

2. 2
2. Product Dissection
1. Touch & Teach Turtle, Vtech, VT0141, 1. Side mode selector switch to choose a mode of
play(random short tunes, cheerful theme song, and some phrases depending on which mode you
select), 2. Turn the book pages to hear magical sounds; the lights will flash along with the sound,
3. Press the light up button to do the following: learn letters, shapes, animals, objects, and more
in letter mode: read some interesting short stories with back ground music in story mode; or hear
a variety of sound effects and melodies in music mode
2. This toy has a variety of functions. Turn the switch on and lights flash and it starts to sing. If
you put the switch to story mode it will read you a story, and if you switch it to sing along mode
it will sing with you. If you push the buttons it will either: count, sing, or tell you to find
something on one of its pages.
3. The toy has to turn on when you turn it on. The toy needs to be able to talk, sing light up, and
the pages have to be able to be read and need to be able to turn.
4. The toy has several different color light, a speaker, a circuit board which tells all the different
parts in the toy what to do, springs to keep the pages closed, wires that run from the circuit board
to all the different buttons, a volume control.
5.Table 1 shows the functions, the corresponding parts, the electric components and physical
parts of the toy.

3. 3
Table 1.
Bill of Materials
Project Name Vtech Touch and Teach Turtle
Engineer(s): Doug Taylor, Steven Morales, Judy Fan
Date: September 17 2010
Qt Functional Analysis
Part # Name
y Function Flows-In Flows-out
1 Screws 11 hold toy
together
2 Power switch 1 turns toy on power from turns all the
and off the battery components on
3 circuit board 2 sends signal to battery power signals to the
all the other other toys
components of
the toy

4. 4
Table 1 Continued
4 wires 44 transports the commands commands
signal from the from the from the
circuit board circuit board circuit board to
to the other the needed
objects of the destinations
toy
5 speaker 1 sings, talks, signal from either singing,
and makes the circuit talking, or
noises board some type of
noise
depending on
what button is
pushed
6 Number buttons 13 tells the circuit power from the action that
board what to the battery each individual
do button is
supposed to
complete
7 Light Up Head Button 1 Ask a random Force from the Electricity that
question about hand flows out from
numbers, the wire
letters and
shapes
8 Light Up buttons 4 Answer Force from Electricity
question, learn the finger that flow out
letters, from the
animals, wire.
numbers and
play music
9 Springs 8 holds the
pages down,
keeping them
from getting
stuck open

5. 5
Table 1 (Continued)
10 light bulbs 5 flashes power from different colors
different color the battery, and pulses
when a and commands
function is from the
performed circuit board
11 pages 9 tells the story Flipping the
that is pages
included with
the toy
6.Front View, thirteen inches wide and ten inches tall
7. Side View, three and a half inches tall

6. 6
8. Back View, where you put the batteries in
9. A view of the inside while all the pieces are still together
3. Customer Needs Assessment
1. Table 2 is a list providing information on customer needs from toys; this table was
obtained from individual interviews. We’ve interviewed some of the parents in the
neighborhood.
Table 2.

7. 7
Low cost
Creative
Environmental friendly
3. Inexpensive Made in U.S.A
3.1 low cost Durable
Low battery cost
3.2 low battery cost
Water resistance
4. Where and How it is made
4.1 Environmental shapes and colors
Variation in friendly
With rechargeable DC adaptor
4.2 Made in U.S.A
Softer material instead of plastic animal
Light weight
Made of non-toxic materials
Educational
Colorful
Grab attention
Attractive
Can be carried around (for travel purposes)
Appealing
Fun to play with
Engaging
Interactive
2. Table 3 is a list providing information on customer needs which are categorized into
specific groups and they are in order from most important to least important.
Table 3.
1. Safety
1.1 made of non-toxic materials
1.2 made of softer material instead of plastic
2. Performance
2.1 Engaging
2.2 Educational
2.3 Light weight
2.4 Interactive
2.5 Durable
2.6 Water resistance
2.7 Easy to carry around (for travel puposes)
2.8 Appealing
2.9 Grab attention
2.10Fun to play with
2.11With rechargeable DC adaptor
2.12Creative
Table 3 (continued)

8. 8
4.Functional Structure
1.1Functions:
1.1 This toy is designed to entertain and educate infants and toddlers.
1.2 Subfunctions
1.1.1 On switch: turns toy on and off.
1.1.2: Speakers: play the music, voices and songs of the toy
1.1.3: Wires: Transfers the signal from the circuit board to the desired
part.
1.1.4 : Circuit board: produces the signals need to make the entire toy
function(the brain of the toy)
1.1.5: Lights: makes the toy more attractive to little kids, flashes and
changes colors
1.1.6: Buttons: tells the circuit board what you want the toy to do.
1.1.7: Pages: holds the story for the children to read
Child turns power child selects child turns toy
switch on desired mode off and puts it
(turn on the and reads the away for later
switch) story or answer
a random
question.
(select a mode)

9. 9

10. 10

11. 11
6. External Search
1.1 Background information about the toy
The toy that we are assigned is the Touch & Teach Turtle from Vetch. This toy is
designed for toddlers who are curious and desired to learn. This colorful turtle teaches
little kids numbers, letters, animals and shapes along with entertaining sound and music.
This turtle also reads interesting short stories that are related to the objects on the toys to
kids. The toy features 3 modes for the kids to choose, theses modes include letter mode,
story mode and music mode. There are also several colorful light-up buttons that interact
with the book which could easily catch toddler’s attention. The purpose of this toy is to
teach kids, aging from 2 to 4, to learn numbers, letters and more.
(http://www.vtechkids.com/product.cfm/Touch_Teach_Turtle/610/).
1.2 Customer Review
Many customers who bought this toy for their children had said that this toy was
great and educational. However, some parents also claimed that their children lost interest
in the toy after couple days. Many buyers also reported that the batteries lasted for a
relatively long period and that battery replacement was not needed too often. Majority of
the cusomers said that the toy was worth its prices and suggested that
(http://www.amazon.com/Vtech-Touch-and-Teach-Turtle/product-reviews/B001539JEO)
1.3 Patent numbers
Table 4 is a patent function matrix that provides the patent numbers of each key
technologies used in the toy and
Function/ Key U.S Patent Description
technologies Number
On and Off Switch 5,051,550 A on and off switch allows you to turn on or off
a machine by using a switch. This ensures that
the machine remain in an off position once it
has been switch off. This on and off switch is
usually connected with devices that interconnect
a battery with a motor to provide power. Power
is transmitted
Mode Selection Switch 3,354,355 A mode selection switch is disclosed having a
temare receptacle containing numbers of
contacts between preselected ones of which
alternate circuit modes are being connected.
Automatic Shut-Off 4,556,093 An automatic shut off device terminate the flow
of electricity if there’s no input for certain
amount of time. This invention also shut off the
fluid flow when the liquid in the battery reaches
a predetermined level.
Volume Control Switch 2,498,569 A volume control switch is designed to turn up
or down the volume of a machine.

12. 12
Battery Installation 1,993,893 The technology of battery installation provides
supported electrical contact within the machine.
When the batteries are installed in a machine,
the machine can be turned on or off.
Circuit Board Connector 3,853,379 The circuit board connector is inserted to
connect with an electrical connector. Once the
circuit board is given a command, it signals to
other components of the machine.
6.1 Benchmarking

13. 13
Reference
1. 2010. Vetch. Retrieved September, 19th, 2010 from
http://www.vtechkids.com/product.cfm/Touch_Teach_Turtle/610/.
2. 2010. Amazon.com. Retrieved September, 19th, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com/Vtech-
Touch-and-Teach-Turtle/product-reviews/B001539JEO
3. Page, Jr, 2010. Google Patent. Retrieved September 25th, 2010, from
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=76J4AAAAEBAJ&dq=battery+installation
4. Harris. T. 2010. Google Patent. Retrieved September 25th, 2010 from
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=fRQfAAAAEBAJ&dq=on+and+off+switch
5. Cliffgard. 2010. Google Patent. Retrieved September 25th, 2010 from
http://www.google.com/patents/about?
id=LMpYAAAAEBAJ&dq=mode+selection+switch
6. William. J. 2010. Google Patent. Retrieved September 25th, 2010 from
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=qQU8AAAAEBAJ&dq=automatic+shut+off
7. Raymond. M. 2010. Google Patent. Retrieved September 25th, 2010 from
http://www.google.com/patents/about?
id=sNlKAAAAEBAJ&dq=volume+control+switch
8. Goodman. 2010. Google Patent. Retrieved September 25th, 2010 from
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=bBozAAAAEBAJ&dq=3853379.