What type of automaton did Leonardo da Vinci design as a humanoid machine?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid automaton commonly known as the robotic knight.

Leonardo’s drawings from about 1495 show a suit of armor containing a system of gears, cables, and pulleys. The mechanism was intended to make the figure sit, stand, raise its arms, and move its head and jaw. It was probably designed for a festival or theatrical display at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan.

The machine was not a robot in the modern electronic sense. It had no computer, sensors, or electric motor. Its planned movements came from mechanical transmission and carefully arranged parts inside the armor.

A full-scale reconstruction was built in the early 21st century using Leonardo’s drawings. That reconstruction helped demonstrate that the design could plausibly perform several of the movements represented in the sketches.