Skip to main content

You can take a bath while flying inside this crazy ‘drone’

When you’ve had a tough day at work and want to enjoy a long soak in a bathtub, you wouldn’t even have to wait till you got home with this crazy “drone.” Just jump in, hit the flight controls, and relax all the way home as your flying bathtub gently carries you over rushing commuters and gridlocked traffic.

OK, it’s an absurd idea, and a ridiculous design, but that’s what The Real Life Guys are all about.

Recommended Videos

The 20-year-old German twins insist that “life is for strange adventures,” and their wacky bathtub drone confirms they’re living up to their tagline, and then some.

Their latest DIY design actually took some considerable effort, with the pair creating a metal frame to hold the bath and support the motor and propellors. The initial unmanned test flight revealed some tricky weight distribution issues that could lead to water sloshing onto people’s heads below, or worse, a catastrophic crash and possible hospitalization for the bather (try explaining that to the first responders).

Once sorted, a human flight was achieved, though the bath wasn’t filled with water and the tester remained fully clothed. The bathtub’s flight was controlled by a pilot on the ground, though the creators suggest the next step would be to give the bathtub’s occupant full control of the machine.

More human-carrying ‘drones’

While the bathtub drone is, we’re sure you’ll agree, a bit bonkers, there are a growing number of drone-like designs that aim to lift one or two humans into the sky and take them places, some made by hobbyists, others with funding and big ambitions for their machines.

German copter company E-Volo, for example, is developing a kind of drone-helicopter, a two-seater that gets off the ground thanks to what appears to be a bunch of drones welded together, though it’s a little more sophisticated than that. Other slightly more conventional designs include the SureFly and 184, both described as “autonomous flying taxis” that look rather like giant quadcopters.

On the hobbyist side, Swedish engineer Axel Borg built his homemade multi-rotor (72 in all!) flying machine for just $10,000. Borg told Digital Trends last year that he sometimes gets “a little scared” when he flies his extraordinary contraption, though he said it’s because he fears “pilot stupidity” rather than mechanical failure.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery plan takes important step forward
watch amazons all new delivery drone zipping through the sky amazon prime air  2019

When Amazon chief Jeff Bezos announced in December 2013 that he wanted to deliver customer packages using small, autonomous flying machines, some people thought he might be in need of a lie-down.

But Bezos was serious, and ever since then, Amazon has been investing time and money in the development of a drone platform that could one day help the company to improve its last-mile delivery performance.

Read more
Let this daredevil drone take you on a tour of the Mercedes-Benz Museum
daredevil drone takes a tour of the mercedes benz museum mercedez

 

One look at this wince-inducing collection of disastrous drone crashes and you’ll immediately understand that it actually takes real skill to pull off spectacular moves with a remotely controlled quadcopter.

Read more
Toyota shifts gears: 15 New EVs and a million cars by 2027
Front three quarter view of the 2023 Toyota bZ4X.

After years of cautiously navigating the electric vehicle (EV) market, Toyota is finally ramping up its commitment to fully electric vehicles.
The Japanese automaker, which has long relied on hybrids, is now planning to develop about 15 fully electric models by 2027, up from five currently. These models will include vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands, with production expected to reach 1 million units annually by that year, according to a report from Nikkei.
This strategy marks a significant shift for Toyota, which has thus far remained conservative in its approach to electric cars. The company sold just 140,000 EVs globally in 2024—representing less than 2% of its total global sales. Despite this, Toyota is aiming for a much larger presence in the EV market, targeting approximately 35% of its global production to be electric by the end of the decade.
The Nikkei report suggests the company plans to diversify its production footprint beyond Japan and China and expanding into the U.S., Thailand, and Argentina. This would help mitigate the impact of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all car imports, as well as reduce delivery times. Toyota is also building a battery plant in North Carolina.
For now, Toyota has only two fully electric vehicles on the U.S. market: The bZ4X  and the Lexus RZ models. The Japanese automaker is expected to introduce new models like the bZ5X and a potential electric version of the popular Tacoma pickup.
Separately, Toyota and Honda, along with South Korea’s Hyundai, all announced on April 4 that they would not be raising prices, at least over the next couple of months, following the imposition of U.S. tariffs. According to a separate Nikkei report, Toyota’s North American division has told its suppliers that it will absorb the extra costs of parts imported from Mexico and Canada. Another 25% for automotive parts imported to the U.S. is slated to come into effect on May 3.

Read more