What self-propelled vehicle did Leonardo da Vinci design for theatrical movement?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a spring-powered self-propelled cart, probably for theatrical movement and court spectacles.

The machine used wound springs to drive its wheels, while a system of gears and cams controlled its motion. Drawings from the late fifteenth century show a compact vehicle with mechanisms hidden inside, allowing it to move without a visible driver or animal. The design is often described as an early ancestor of the automobile, although it was not intended as everyday transport.

Leonardo’s cart is sometimes called a robot because it could perform programmed movement, but it was not an autonomous robot in the modern electronic sense. Its route and actions were constrained by mechanical parts. In 2006, engineers at the Museo Galileo in Florence built a working reconstruction, demonstrating that the surviving drawings could produce movement.