What kind of machine did Leonardo da Vinci design as a walking mechanical knight?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid robot in the form of a walking mechanical knight.

Leonardo’s notes from around 1495 describe a mechanical figure with armor, internal gears, pulleys, and cables. The mechanisms were intended to let the figure sit, stand, raise its arms, and move its head and jaw. The design was probably connected with court spectacles for Ludovico Sforza in Milan.

No complete original machine has survived, so historians reconstruct its operation from scattered drawings and notes. In 2002, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a working model based on Leonardo’s plans. The reconstructed figure could perform several of the movements suggested by the drawings.

Calling it a robot uses a modern category for a Renaissance automaton. Leonardo’s machine was not electronic and did not make decisions independently. It was a programmed mechanical device whose movements were controlled by physical linkages, making it an important early example of humanoid mechanical engineering.