Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid robot, commonly called Leonardo’s robot or the mechanical knight.
The design was created around 1495, probably for a pageant or theatrical presentation at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. Its internal system of pulleys, cables, and gears could make the figure sit, stand, raise its arms, and move its head and jaw according to the surviving reconstruction.
The robot was not an electronic machine and did not use artificial intelligence. In this historical context, robot means a self-moving mechanical automaton operated by carefully arranged mechanical parts. Leonardo’s drawings were rediscovered and interpreted centuries after his death.
It should not be confused with Leonardo’s armored vehicle design, which is commonly nicknamed a tank. The humanoid machine and the wheeled military design are separate projects.