What self-moving vehicle did Leonardo da Vinci sketch for travel without horses?

Leonardo da Vinci sketched a self-propelled cart designed to move without horses.

The spring-powered vehicle appears in drawings associated with Leonardo’s work for court entertainments. Wound springs inside the cart supplied energy, while programmed cams controlled steering and the sequence of movement. The mechanism made the cart an early example of a programmable automaton rather than a practical road vehicle.

The cart’s exact purpose is uncertain. It may have been intended for theatrical displays at a Renaissance festival or court celebration, where a moving object could surprise spectators. Leonardo’s notes and drawings show the mechanical principle, but no complete original cart survives.

Modern reconstructions differ because some details of the spring arrangement and steering system must be inferred. It is therefore more accurate to call it a self-propelled cart than to label it an automobile or a robot car in the modern sense.