Suppose you had walk across a tightrope, but you don’t happen t have any circus training. You’d be sunk. But if you happened to be the beloved cartoon hero Inspector Gadget you could just shout “Go go gadget gyroscope!” Then, suddenly, the top of your hat would flip open and out would fan a disc, and that disc would start spinning, and your balance would increase tenfold. Sadly, you are probably not Inspector Gadget. But this project from James Bruton might help. Here’s more:

It’s pretty hard to walk on a tightrope but I thought I’d have a go. I set up a bar which is a steel scaffold pole and tried my best to walk along it. Sometimes I could almost make it to the end, but most of the time I did far worse than that. It’s a bit easier if you crouch right down and use your arms to help you balance, but standing up tall makes it even harder. Standing still on the spot for any length of time is practically impossible.

But could I make a device that would help me balance?

See project!