Amid the global smart product wave, the children's segment witnessed rapid growth yet suffered from product homogeneity. Our client ZIB Technology identified the core need of modern parents: a solution that provides quality companionship and early education while compensating for their limited time. ZIB aimed to develop an AI companion robot priced under ¥1,000 that would surpass existing products in design, experience, and quality - creating a bridge between children and knowledge through interactive features and remote parental communication.

• Design Breakthrough: Create a distinctive product identity blending futuristic tech with approachable appeal, breaking from conventional humanoid robotics

• Safety Assurance: Implement highest safety standards across materials and construction for child-friendly durability

• Emotional Connection: Enable multi-modal interactions through visual, tactile, and voice interfaces to build genuine bonds

• Cost-Effective Manufacturing: Balance innovative aesthetics with complex internal hardware integration within strict budget constraints

  
  

LKK Design's integrated "design + R&D supply chain" approach guided the complete development from concept to mass production.

 Design Research
Our user research revealed two key insights: children respond best to personified forms with playful characteristics, while parents express strong concerns about large screens causing addiction and vision damage in competing products. This inspired our core concept: a futuristic companion that eliminates screens to protect eyesight while stimulating imagination.

 Industrial Design

• Futuristic Form: Inspired by aircraft from "Oblivion," the streamlined body features a distinctive tilted head creating playful "eye contact" during interactions

• Screen-Free Innovation: Addressing parental concerns, we replaced traditional displays with a low-brightness, flicker-free LED dot matrix behind the glossy black "sunglasses" panel, displaying simple emoticons and status indicators while eliminating screen-related risks

• Dual-Function Antenna: The food-grade silicone top antenna incorporates breathing LED lights for emotional connection. Crucially, it also functions as a child-friendly carry handle - the soft yet sturdy grip enables small children to securely lift the spherical body, preventing drops and potential injury

 Mechanical Structure Design

• Compact Integration: Facing spatial constraints of the spherical form, our engineers performed 3D modeling and simulation to optimize three-dimensional component stacking, custom-designing irregular parts and utilizing every millimeter between dome and base

• Child-Safety Engineering:

• The carry-handle antenna incorporates reinforced internal skeleton validated through finite element analysis (FEA) simulating extreme use scenarios

• Impact-resistant architecture with buffer zones around critical components and reinforced seams ensures survival from 1-meter drops

 Electronic and Interaction Design

• Voice-First System: An ARM-based main processor powers complex tasks, while high-SNR MEMS microphone arrays with custom acoustic design and noise cancellation enable 360° far-field wake-up and accurate recognition in noisy environments

• Screen-Free Output: Content delivery relies entirely on audio and light feedback. A professional audio decoder chip drives high-quality speakers, while the LED dot matrix and breathing lights create a complete visual language expressing states like "listening," "thinking," or "happy" without screens

• Power Safety: Efficient power management circuits extend battery life, with strict charge/discharge protection and temperature monitoring ensuring electrical safety

 Prototyping and Testing

• Functional Validation: CNC and 3D-printed functional prototypes verified internal layout, structural integrity, and ergonomics - particularly handle grip comfort, voice recognition sensitivity, and light effect softness

• Compliance Testing: Comprehensive testing against EU CE (EN71), US FCC, and ASTM F963standards covered heavy metal content, small parts safety, edge sharpness, battery safety, and thermal management - ensuring global market compliance

 Mold Development and Mass Production

• Manufacturing Optimization: DFM/DFA analysis addressed complex processes like two-shot injection molding and silicone overmolding

• Quality Assurance: Precision molds with optimized runner/cooling systems eliminated sink marks. Statistical Process Control (SPC) maintained consistency across mass production, ensuring million-unit output matched design specifications

ZIB Robot demonstrates how design drives commercial success:

• Market Success: After its 2018 Silicon Valley launch, it became the category sales leader with global sales exceeding 10 million units, establishing ZIB's industry leadership

• User Value: The robot addresses childhood loneliness through curriculum-synchronized content, multilingual translation, and parent-child chat. The screen-free approach and safety-carry handle directly resolve parental concerns about vision health and physical safety

• Industry Benchmark: This project exemplifies LKK's integrated service model, proving how front-loading compliance requirements and combining engineering with supply chain capabilities can overcome manufacturing challenges from concept to mass production