Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart was a four-wheeled vehicle designed to move without being pushed or pulled by animals.
Leonardo sketched the cart around 1478–1480. Coiled springs inside the vehicle supplied stored energy, while a system of gears controlled the wheels. The steering could be set in advance, allowing the cart to follow a predetermined route.
The machine is sometimes called the first robot or an early automobile, but both labels require care. It had no engine, passenger compartment, or modern feedback system. Its programmed movement was nevertheless a striking example of mechanical automation.
A reconstruction displayed at the 2006 Florence exhibition of Leonardo’s machines showed that the design could operate when built with suitable interpretations of the surviving drawings. Historians still distinguish the original sketch from later reconstructed models.