Leonardo da Vinci designed a robotic knight around 1495 for the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan.
The machine was based on a system of pulleys, cables, gears, and a control mechanism hidden inside an armored shell. According to reconstructions of Leonardo’s notes, it could sit, stand, move its arms, and operate its visor. The concept was presented as an entertainment automaton rather than a modern autonomous robot.
Leonardo developed the design while working on military and ceremonial projects in Milan. A major source is the Codex Madrid I, rediscovered in the 1960s, which contains technical studies relevant to the mechanism.
No original robotic knight has survived, and historians do not have firm evidence that Leonardo completed one in 1495. In 2002, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a working reconstruction based on Leonardo’s drawings. “Robot” is a modern label; the historical object is better understood as a mechanically controlled automaton.