What did Leonardo da Vinci’s robotic knight resemble when completed?

Leonardo da Vinci’s robotic knight was designed to resemble an armored knight.

Leonardo developed the design in Milan around 1495, probably for a festival or court entertainment commissioned by Ludovico Sforza. The machine was built around a system of pulleys, cables, and gears that could allow it to stand, sit, raise its arms, and move its head and jaw.

The robot was not a modern autonomous robot. It had no electronic control system, computer, or independent decision-making ability. Instead, its movements were produced mechanically by an operator or by carefully arranged internal mechanisms.

In 2002, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a working interpretation based on Leonardo’s drawings. Later reconstructions suggested that the original mechanism may have been more capable than the limited sketches first indicated. The machine is therefore an important example of Renaissance automata.