What human-shaped machine did Leonardo da Vinci design with arms, a jaw, and a head that could move?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a human-shaped machine known as the mechanical knight.

The machine was created for a Milanese court pageant around 1495, during Leonardo’s service to Ludovico Sforza. Its armor-like exterior concealed a system of pulleys, cables, and gears. The mechanism reportedly allowed the figure to sit, stand, move its arms, and move its jaw and head.

The knight was an automaton, meaning it performed programmed movements through mechanical components rather than through an external operator visible to the audience. It was a piece of court entertainment and engineering display, not a robot with artificial intelligence or independent decision-making.

The original machine has not survived. In the 20th century, engineer and robotics expert Mark Rosheim studied Leonardo’s drawings and built reconstructions, including a version displayed in 2002. The machine is often called a robot today, but “mechanical knight” is the more historically specific name.