What is Leonardo da Vinci’s wheeled machine for moving without being pushed called?

Leonardo da Vinci’s wheeled machine for moving without being pushed is called the self-propelled cart. It was a spring-powered vehicle designed to travel a preset distance.

Leonardo’s drawing shows two large leaf springs mounted beneath a lightweight cart. When the springs were wound, their stored energy could be released through gears to turn the wheels. A steering mechanism allowed the cart to follow a planned route, and a cam system could control when parts of the mechanism moved.

The cart was probably intended for theatrical performances or court spectacles rather than transportation. It did not contain an engine in the modern sense, and its stored spring energy would have limited its range. A reconstruction in the twentieth century showed that the design could operate, although historians and engineers continue to debate the exact interpretation of some components in the original drawings.