What name is commonly given to Leonardo da Vinci’s humanoid mechanical invention?

Leonardo da Vinci’s humanoid mechanical invention is commonly called the mechanical knight.

Leonardo designed the figure around 1495, probably for a pageant organized at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. The machine wore armor and used an internal system of gears, cables, and pulleys. Reconstructions indicate that it could sit, stand, raise its arms, and move its head and jaw.

The design is often described as a robot, although that modern word can hide important differences. Leonardo’s machine was a pre-programmed automaton: its movements came from mechanical linkages rather than software, sensors, or electronic controls. The surviving evidence comes mainly from anatomical and mechanical drawings discovered in Leonardo’s notebooks.

The machine was not known publicly for centuries. In 1950, Leonardo’s Codex Madrid I was rediscovered, and its mechanical drawings helped researchers understand the knight. In 2002, Mark Rosheim built a working reconstruction based on the surviving plans.