What type of machine did Leonardo da Vinci design to produce continuous motion from a falling weight?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a proposed perpetual motion machine based on moving weights, but it could not produce continuous useful motion without an energy source.

His notebooks include studies of wheels and weights intended to keep turning as their positions changed. Such mechanisms were common subjects for Renaissance engineers, who hoped an arrangement of unequal arms or shifting masses might create an endless imbalance. Leonardo investigated these ideas carefully and eventually recognized that the apparent advantage disappears over a complete cycle.

A perpetual motion machine would violate established principles of thermodynamics if it delivered useful work indefinitely without energy input. Leonardo’s sketches are historically important because they show both his curiosity and his increasingly critical mechanical reasoning. They should not be presented as successful inventions or as evidence that he achieved limitless energy.