Leonardo da Vinci’s early programmable humanoid automaton was the robot knight. He designed it around 1495 for a pageant or court entertainment in Milan, probably under the patronage of Ludovico Sforza.
The figure was built around a suit of armor and an internal mechanical structure. Cables, pulleys, and gears could make the knight sit, stand, raise its visor, and move its arms. The surviving notes suggest that Leonardo used a system of programmable cams to coordinate the actions.
The original automaton has not survived, and the design was reconstructed in the 20th century from Leonardo’s drawings and anatomical-mechanical studies. Modern reconstructions demonstrated that the concept could produce several humanlike movements.
Calling it a robot is a modern description: Leonardo did not use that word, and the machine was not electronic or autonomous. It was a clockwork-style automaton, but its linked movements make it an important precursor to programmable mechanical figures.