Leonardo da Vinci designed a catapult to hurl stones using a rotating arm and stored tension.
His military notebooks contain several projectile-machine studies, including large catapult designs with carefully considered frames, arms, springs, and release mechanisms. The goal was to store energy mechanically and release it suddenly to launch a projectile toward a target.
Leonardo’s catapults were developments of ancient siege technology, not replacements for firearms. A catapult uses stored mechanical energy, while a cannon uses the expanding gases produced by burning gunpowder. Leonardo explored both families of weapons because Renaissance armies still used engines of war alongside increasingly common artillery.
The word “catapult” can cover several related machines. A trebuchet uses a counterweight, while Leonardo’s spring-driven designs relied on tension or torsion. Therefore, the most specific answer for this design family is catapult rather than trebuchet.