What name is commonly given to Leonardo da Vinci’s human-shaped mechanical machine?

Leonardo da Vinci’s human-shaped mechanical machine is commonly called the mechanical knight.

Leonardo designed the figure around 1495 for a pageant organized by Ludovico Sforza in Milan. The armored figure was intended to sit, stand, raise its visor, and move its arms through an internal system of pulleys, cables, and gears.

The original machine has not survived, so historians reconstruct its operation from Leonardo’s sketches and notes. In 2002, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a working model based on the drawings. Later reconstructions showed that the design was mechanically plausible, although its range of movement was limited.

The mechanical knight is sometimes called Leonardo’s robot. That modern label is useful, but it should not imply an electronic machine. Leonardo’s device was a programmable-looking automaton powered entirely by Renaissance mechanical technology.