What human-like machine did Leonardo da Vinci design for a Milan court celebration in 1495?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a mechanical knight for a Milan court celebration in 1495.

The machine, often called Leonardo's robot or mechanical knight, was created for the court of Ludovico Sforza. Dressed in armor, it could sit, stand, move its arms, and operate its jaw through a system of cables, pulleys, and gears. Leonardo based the mechanism on his studies of human anatomy and movement.

The original machine no longer survives, and historians do not have a complete record of its performance. The design was reconstructed in the 21st century from Leonardo's engineering notes, including drawings in the Codex Atlanticus.

It was not an electronic robot and had no artificial intelligence. In modern terms, it was a programmable mechanical automaton. Its importance lies in the way Leonardo combined anatomical observation with mechanical engineering to imitate coordinated human motion.