What automated mechanical figure did Leonardo da Vinci design around 1495?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a robot knight around 1495.

The figure was a mechanical automaton dressed in armor and able to perform human-like movements, including sitting, standing, and moving its arms. Leonardo developed the design while working for Ludovico Sforza in Milan, where elaborate spectacles and ceremonial displays were important parts of court life.

The robot knight was not an electronic robot and did not operate with modern sensors or software. Its actions would have been produced by cables, pulleys, and a system of gears and mechanisms inside the armored body. For that reason, “automaton” is the historical engineering term, although “robot knight” is the name commonly used today.

The original machine has not survived. In the 20th century, researchers reconstructed versions from Leonardo’s drawings. Those reconstructions showed that the concept could work mechanically, while also revealing that some details in the notebooks required interpretation.