What name is commonly given to Leonardo da Vinci’s human-powered self-moving cart?

Leonardo da Vinci’s human-independent vehicle is commonly called the self-propelled cart.

Leonardo drew the mechanism around 1478–1480. Springs stored energy and released it through gears, allowing the cart to move without a person pushing or pulling it. Steering could be set in advance, making the device a possible ancestor of programmable motion rather than a practical automobile.

The cart was probably intended for theatrical or ceremonial use. One modern interpretation suggests that it could have moved across a stage and surprised an audience during a court event. Leonardo’s sketch is incomplete, so researchers have had to reconstruct details from the visible springs, gears, axles, and steering arrangement.

The cart is sometimes called Leonardo’s robot or automobile, but those labels can mislead. It had no engine, no passenger compartment, and no ability to choose a route on its own. In 2006, a reconstruction at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia in Milan demonstrated how the mechanism could work.