What humanoid machine did Leonardo da Vinci design with a suit of armor and internal gears?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a mechanical knight with internal gears beneath a suit of armor.

The design dates to about 1495, when Leonardo was working in Milan for Ludovico Sforza. A wooden frame and mechanical system were intended to let the armored figure perform movements such as sitting, standing, raising its arms, and moving its head and jaw.

The knight is one of the earliest known humanoid robot designs in European history. It was probably intended as a courtly spectacle rather than as a practical soldier. The mechanism relied on cables, pulleys, and gears controlled from inside the body.

The mechanical knight is distinct from Leonardo’s later mechanical lion. The lion was an animal-shaped ceremonial automaton made for the French court, while the knight represented a human figure in armor. A modern reconstruction demonstrated that the surviving design could produce the described movements.