What name is commonly given to Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century mechanical cart?

Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical cart is commonly called the self-propelled cart. Designed around 1478–1480, it used wound springs to store energy and could travel a programmed distance without being pushed by a person or pulled by an animal.

The cart had a three-wheeled layout, with two drive wheels and a steerable front wheel. A system of gears and cams controlled its movement. The machine may have been intended for theatrical performances or court celebrations rather than transport or warfare.

A modern reconstruction was built in 2006 by the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, now called Museo Galileo. The cart is often described as an early robot or automobile, but those labels are modern comparisons; Leonardo’s design was a clockwork-powered mechanical vehicle.