Figure 1.

The sketch of Ducky Ducky

Some of the autism children have the difficulty to learn a new word or remember a name of the thing
[1]. The research shown that visual aids through pictures improve memory and help high functioning
autism to recognize and recall [2]. Hence, the cue cards is one of the way to help the autism child in
early learning process. However, there are some challenges, parent does not have enough time to teach
autism child together, the cue card need to print out which will waste the paperboard and take time to
prepare different cue cards. On the other hand, to see the progress of autism child to learn, the parent
need to repeat a same thing for a long time [3]. Hence, the LEKA was invented to engage with autism
child, always give them positive feedback. The challenges for LEKA is the price of LEKA is too expensive,
it cost 390 USD.

To solve the challenge, the project is to invent a starter edition toy of LEKA call Ducky Ducky. It contains
four subsystems, which are Online Quiz (OQ) subsystem, Arduino Controlling (AC) subsystem, Tube
Flowing (TF) subsystem and Release Ball Motor (RBM) subsystem.

The first subsystem is Online Quiz (OQ) subsystem. Instead of print the cue card out, the cue card and
question can store in any online website such as Quizizz. This reduce the waste of paperboard, reduce
the time of parent to prepare different cue cards and every parent can easily get the up to date version
questions for their child on the website. For the autism child to operate the Ducky Ducky, the procedure
is press the button on the toy and then use an Ipad or smart phone to scan the QR code on the ball that
release from Release Ball Motor (RBM) subsystem, then their Ipad or smart phone will go to the website
and display the question for them. Parent need to choose the question link and convert it to QR code,
then print it out and paste it on the ball. Parent must be accompany with child at the first time, can
leave the child after he or she familiar with the process.

The second subsystem is Arduino Controlling (AC) subsystem. This system is to turn the led lights on and
off to display different colour on the surface of the toy when button was press to give autism child
feedback. According to research, green and brown are the colour that autism boy more prefer and
yellow is the most unlikely prefer colour due to disorder perceive yellow as being sensory-overloading
[4]. Hence, green led would be choose to turn on when autism child press the button to release the ball
and when parent press the button after autism child done the question. This system also give instruction
to Release Ball Motor (RBM) subsystem, to release the ball when autism child press the button.

The third subsystem is Tube Flowing (TF) subsystem. This system contain a tube to store the ball and
deliver the ball to Release Ball Motor (RBM) subsystem. The tube is open from up and straight to down.
Hence, parent can easy open from top of the toy to fill in the ball.

The forth subsystem is Release Ball Motor (RBM) subsystem. This system contain a servo motor to open
the gate and release the ping pong ball and a buzzer. A brief spatially nonpredictive sound was
presented before the ping pong was release. This is because brief spatially nonpredictive sound present
before an object will let autism child hyper‐responsiveness to human eyes [5]. Then autism child will
more concentrate to what parent teach them later.

Reference

1) Raising Children Network. (2019). How autism spectrum disorder affects learning and
development. [online] Available at: https://raisingchildren.net.au/autism/learning-about-
asd/about-asd/how-asd-affects-development [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].
2) Angela Nelson, E. (2019). Using Picture Cards to Aid Speech. [online] Blog.stageslearning.com.
Available at: http://blog.stageslearning.com/blog/using-picture-cards-to-aid-communication-
[Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].
3) Science, L. (2019). Robotic Toy 'Leka' Designed for Kids with Autism. [online] Live Science.
Available at: https://www.livescience.com/54741-leka-robot-for-autistic-kids.html [Accessed 29
Apr. 2019].
4) Grandgeorge, M. and Masataka, N. (2019). Atypical Color Preference in Children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder. [online] Frontiers in Psychology. Available at:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01976/full [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].
5) Kleberg, J., Thorup, E. and Falck-Ytter, T. (2019). Visual orienting in children with autism: Hyper-
responsiveness to human eyes presented after a brief alerting audio-signal, but
hyporesponsiveness to eyes presented without sound. [online] wiley online library. Available at:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aur.1668 [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].
Low Complexity Business Attribute High Complexity Rating
Static Business Rules Changing 2
Static Current Business Changing 2
systems
Few Interaction with other Many 4
departments
Few Issues Multiple 4
Familiar Markets unfamiliar 4
Clear Objectives vague 3
Established Policies Non-existent 3
Total 22
Complexity 3.14

Low Complexity Technical Attribute High Complexity Rating

Local Communication Global 1
Proven Hardware New 1
Proven Software New 1
Light Security Tight 1
Experienced Team Inexperienced 2
Total 6
Complexity 1.2