What type of mechanical knight did Leonardo da Vinci design for a 1495 Milan celebration?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid robot for a 1495 Milan celebration.

Known as Leonardo’s robot or the mechanical knight, the device was created for festivities organized by Ludovico Sforza at the court of Milan. Leonardo’s drawings show an armored figure containing a system of pulleys, cables, and gears. The mechanism could imitate human actions, including sitting, standing, moving its arms, and raising its visor.

The robot was not an electronic machine and did not use artificial intelligence. It was an automaton powered by mechanical transmission. Leonardo’s studies of anatomy and human proportion helped him plan the arrangement of the internal parts, while his experience with stage machinery helped make the performance possible.

The original machine has not survived. In 2002, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a working reconstruction from Leonardo’s drawings. The reconstruction showed that the design was mechanically plausible, although many details remain interpretive.