What was the name of Leonardo da Vinci’s self-moving cart, often described as an early robot?

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-moving vehicle is known as Leonardo’s self-propelled cart.

Leonardo designed the cart in the late 15th century, probably around 1478 to 1480. Its motion came from coiled springs hidden inside the body. When released, the springs drove the wheels, allowing the cart to move without being pushed by a person or pulled by an animal.

The cart could also be programmed to follow a predetermined path through a system of gears and adjustable steering. Because it could perform a movement automatically, it is often called a mechanical automaton or an early robot. It was not an automobile in the modern sense: it had no engine, fuel system, brakes, or passenger cabin.

A full-scale reconstruction was built in 2006 by the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, now the Museo Galileo. The reconstruction demonstrated that Leonardo’s mechanism was mechanically plausible.