What humanoid machine did Leonardo da Vinci design and reconstructors later call his robotic knight?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid machine known as the mechanical knight.

Leonardo's notebooks from around 1495 contain drawings of a knight-shaped automaton with an articulated body. A system of cables, pulleys, and gears inside the armor could move the machine's jaw, arms, and head. The design appears to have been created for a court entertainment or spectacle connected with the festivities of Ludovico Sforza in Milan.

The surviving drawings do not provide a complete, step-by-step construction manual. In 2002, robotics engineer Mark Rosheim built a working interpretation based on Leonardo's sketches. Later reconstructions showed that the mechanism could perform limited human-like movements when properly assembled.

The machine is called a robot in modern discussions, but “robot” was not a Renaissance term; it was coined much later. “Mechanical knight” or “automaton” is more historically precise. The design is significant because it combines theatrical motion with an early programmable-looking mechanical system.