Universal Travel Adapter

Hello,

I’m currently studying Engineering Design at Flinders University, South Australia.

Through this topic I’m researching designs of universal travel adapters, I’ve created a super quick survey and if you could complete the survey it would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PTVBCZF

Many thanks,

Matthew Hill

Done.

Probably the quickest survey I have ever completed. I hope the survey as a whole proves useful and look forward to receiving my complementary sample of the finished product! 😉

Done

done – nice survey 🙂

I would also add..

* ease of selecting required plug pins

* weight of the unit

I do like batterytraveller’s – built in extension lead.

My plug / adapter case just keeps on getting bigger and heavier…

I have also been having problems at security recently with some plug casing causing secondary inspections by the way they show up on the xray screen.

one of the biggest problems I find with travel adaptors is they either fit the charge point on an aircraft seat so badly that the fall out, or if they are the all singing and dancing type they are so heavy they fall out under thier own weight

Good survey indeed but I echo the comments above about additional features to be taken into consideration. In an ideal world, my travel adapter would have the following features:

A small but not overly bright indicator light to show power was running – enough to be apparent if looking specifically to check power (very useful on an aircraft) but not so much as to light up the room when I want to sleep

High power USB ports for charging tablets etc

The power rating to charge at least two high-draw devices at once

The flexibility to fit any socket position – this is a real issue in some aircraft and hotel rooms where plugs are awkwardly situated

Be light enough (or well-balanced enough) that it doesn’t fall out of a socket under its own weight (a particular issue in those benighted countries that use two slim flat pins – yes, America, I’m looking at you….)

Comes with integrated, or possibly “co-sold”, retracting charging cables so I don’t have to travel with a mass (usually tangled) of charging cables

Does not have any fixed protruding electrical pins (or those little knobs which some have which are used to extend or retract the electrical pins) which are susceptible to damage while packed

Has some kind of “output” port so that one can charge a phone/tablet/whatever while still being able to take video or audio output from it to play through the hotel entertainment system. This is a constant bugbear for me, now that so many devices rely on the same port for power input and media output, and one which means I go to some lengths to ensure that my phone is fully charged before I get to my destination so I can watch content on it when I arrive. If I had a charger that allowed me to charge my phone and watch my content at the same time…. What a joy. This idea is available to you for a modest licensing fee 😉

Thank you to everyone who has taken a moment to complete the survey.

This thread has far exceeded my expectations and I truly appreciate the extra input that has been posted. It has given me and my group some great points/specs to consider in the design.

IanFromHKG- I’ve had that problem with my phone too, only a first year student currently so that one is probably a bit above me at this stage, but if I continue into Electronic Engineering I might have to get that licensing fee to you haha