What Leonardo da Vinci invention used springs and gears to move a small wagon without horses?

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart used springs and gears to move a small wagon without horses.

Leonardo designed the cart around two large leaf springs that stored mechanical energy. Gears transferred that energy to the wheels, while a steering mechanism could be set in advance to make the cart follow a programmed route. The concept resembles an early mechanical vehicle or theatrical automaton rather than a road car.

The cart was probably intended for court pageants and stage performances. A moving prop could enter a scene without visible animals or attendants, making it valuable for Renaissance spectacles. Leonardo’s drawings do not show an internal-combustion engine, steam engine, or other modern motor.

A reconstruction was built in the twentieth century by Italian scholars Carlo Pedretti and his team. It demonstrated that the basic mechanism could operate. The invention is sometimes described as the ancestor of the automobile, but its spring-powered design is more accurately understood as an early self-moving machine.