Drone toys have short battery lives because of the energy required to keep them aloft. Lighter-than-air devices seem to make sense to address this, and that's probably a big reason why helium drone toys are baked (although unfortunately uncommon). Helium is expensive, though, and such toys either require the user to get their device filled from a third- party vendor or deal with the complications of getting helium shipped with the toy. Proposed is a drone toy that includes a water electrolysis kit so the end user can fill or refill the air chamber with hydrogen. The gas needn't ever be compressed very much at all.
-- kevinthenerd, Mar 12 2017

The excitement factor is going to drop if a blimp is attached to those racing drones. Although, birds do have hollow bones for weight reduction.
-- wjt, Mar 12 2017


// The gas needn't ever be compressed very much at all. //

The whole point is that , unless required to maintain structural integrity i.e. a blimp, the gas is at atmospheric pressure; that's certainly the case in a classic dirigible.
-- 8th of 7, Mar 12 2017


[8th], if you //fill or refill// the zep //at atmospheric pressure//, you'd need to be rather patient, no? It doesn't need to be pressurized in the gas bag, but your filler bottle would probably want at least a couple of PSIG.
-- lurch, Mar 12 2017


The storage containers would be HP, but the pressure difference to get the gas into a bag need only be a few Pascals. Zepp bags were "atmospheric" and indeed had vent valves, so that if the ship rose above its pressure altitude, the gas could vent to prevent bursting.
-- 8th of 7, Mar 12 2017


If the "Low Hydrogen" status light comes on when the wall-wart is plugged in to recharge the batteries, inject a cc or so of water into the H2O port.
-- FlyingToaster, Mar 12 2017



random, halfbakery