What Leonardo da Vinci invention is widely regarded as the first self-propelled cart?

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart is widely regarded as the first self-propelled vehicle. Designed around 1478–1480, it used two symmetrical springs wound by hand to drive the rear wheels through gearing. Steering could be set in advance with a peg system, so the cart followed a programmed route rather than being guided by a driver.

The mechanism was probably intended for theatrical displays at court, where a moving object could surprise spectators. It was not an automobile in the modern sense: it carried no engine, fuel tank, or occupant. The stored energy came from tightly wound leaf springs, much like those used in Renaissance clocks.

A full-scale reconstruction was built in 2006 by the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence. The cart is often called Leonardo’s robot, but that nickname can cause confusion with his mechanical knight, a separate design.