Using 20-sided dice to stabilise my walking machine?
James Bruton, an engineer and maker on the James Bruton channel, discusses making his walking machine rideable and testing its stability at EMF Camp 2026 in Eastnor, Gloucestershire.
In this talk
- 0:04
Adding a seat that stays centered
Bruton tests whether the machine can carry him, then adds a third sliding section to keep his weight over the feet on the ground. The mechanism uses aluminum extrusion, drawer sliders, a ball screw, and a 2 kW motor. Wedge-shaped soles make the legs straighter while they support his weight.
- 5:54
Building compliant beanbag feet
To help the feet conform to uneven surfaces, Bruton fills them with 3D-printed 20-sided dice. He makes plywood foot platforms with screw-on borders and tough fabric covers, hoping the dice will jam together under load and form a firm base.
- 7:59
Testing at EMF Camp
Bruton takes the machine to EMF Camp 2026 and tests it on paving, slopes, and grass. The beanbag feet perform poorly and the machine starts tipping, even after he removes about half the filling. He switches back to larger flat feet, which work better on the path, though the robot remains wobbly on uneven ground.
- 20:48
Rethinking how the feet level
Bruton concludes that the beanbags do not keep the feet upright when his weight is high or the ground is uneven. He proposes two passive ankle pivots that can be locked with bar clamps. A leveling system would also need an inertial measurement unit and load cells to check body angle and ground contact before locking the ankles.
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