What Leonardo da Vinci machine was designed to weave cloth automatically with a shuttle?

Leonardo da Vinci’s automatic loom was a design for mechanising cloth weaving with coordinated loom movements.

A loom interlaces lengthwise warp threads with a crosswise weft thread. Leonardo’s textile-machine studies explored ways to automate repeated actions such as raising warp threads, passing the shuttle, and beating the new thread into place. Coordinating those steps was essential: the shuttle had to pass through the correct opening before the next shed was formed.

The design reflects Leonardo’s close attention to industrial processes. Textile production was one of the most important manufacturing activities in Renaissance Europe, and mechanical assistance could improve speed and consistency. However, Leonardo’s sketches do not establish that his exact automatic loom became a successful working machine.

The invention should not be confused with later industrial machines such as the spinning jenny or power loom. The spinning jenny spun several threads at once, while a loom made fabric by weaving threads together. Leonardo’s concept belongs to an earlier period of experimental textile automation.