What was the name of Leonardo da Vinci's humanoid mechanical invention demonstrated in 2002?

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Leonardo da Vinci’s humanoid mechanical invention demonstrated in 2002 is known as Leonardo’s robot. The machine was reconstructed from drawings in the Codex Atlanticus and is also called the Leonardo robot.

Leonardo designed the figure in 1495, probably for a pageant at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. Its internal system of pulleys and cables could make the armored figure sit, stand, raise its arms, and move its head and jaw. The original mechanism has not survived.

Italian roboticist Mario Taddei built a modern reconstruction and demonstrated it in 2002. The reconstruction showed that the surviving drawings contain enough mechanical information for a functioning figure, although its exact historical use remains uncertain. The robot was therefore a mechanical entertainment or theatrical automaton, not an electronic robot in the modern sense.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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