Everyone can ride a unicycle now, as nearly 20 years after the invention of the Segway, computationally enhanced gyros control the motion of various "hover" gadgets.

This tight rope setup uses a stiffer than usual rope, perhaps a metal cable connected between two large poles that are able to control the left/right swing of the rope (perhaps by a smart appendage that rapidly pulls the rope significantly right or left) and its tautness based on the adeptness of the walker.
-- theircompetitor, Nov 06 2017

Self balancing stick https://www.youtube...watch?v=woCdjbsjbPg
[theircompetitor, Nov 07 2017]

robot balancing a stick https://www.youtube...watch?v=lwvTyC7m4LQ
[theircompetitor, Nov 07 2017]

A triangular box section, perhaps fabricated from aluminium or titanium, point uppermost, would be much stiffer, and more amenable to rapid manipulation by high-speed pneumatic or electric actuators attached at the ends.
-- 8th of 7, Nov 06 2017


I like it - it's a tight rope after all. A loose rope would be a different situation. But a very, very tight metal cable - that logically could always remain under you. Such a tight cable may be entirely unaffected by a tiny 15 stone mass wobbling back and forth.

I think you'd need to always have at least one foot on it though; no running, skipping, or jumping.
-- mylodon, Nov 07 2017


//With a rigid member the above could be even more of a problem. // That is a sentence that can be used in many contexts.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 07 2017


////With a rigid member the above could be even more of a problem. // That is a sentence that can be used in many contexts.// - and yet it is a sentence that remains true whatever the interpretation of 'rigid member'
-- hippo, Nov 07 2017


One is never too old for dick jokes.

Some utterly safe for work videos linked

[bigsleep] -- an utterly rigid human, one that avoids counteracting the rope, is surely not too different from the stick being balanced on any given point, right?
-- theircompetitor, Nov 07 2017


// a perfectly rigid human will be of some help. //

Hur hur hur hur... ahem.

If you sling the rope far enough from the ground, fear will achieve the sort of tetanic muscle spasm you suggest.
-- 8th of 7, Nov 08 2017


I thought this was about groping
-- DDRopDeadly, Nov 08 2017


Go and wash your mind out with soap and water.
-- 8th of 7, Nov 08 2017



random, halfbakery