Leonardo da Vinci designed a mechanical humanoid known as the robot knight for a Milanese festival around 1495.
The design was probably commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, for festivities connected with the court. Leonardo’s notes and drawings show an armored figure capable of sitting, standing, and moving its arms, with mechanisms operated by cables and pulleys inside the armor.
No original robot survives, and the exact performance of the historical machine remains uncertain. In 2002, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a working interpretation based on Leonardo’s surviving drawings. The project helped demonstrate that the design’s articulated movements were mechanically plausible.