What was the name of Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart concept?

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

Leonardo designed the cart around 1478–1480. It used two large driving wheels and a spring-powered mechanism concealed beneath its body. A steering system allowed the vehicle to follow a pre-set route, making it an early design for an automatically moving vehicle rather than a cart pulled by animals.

The cart may have been intended for theatrical performances or court celebrations. Because Leonardo’s surviving drawing is incomplete, reconstructions have been important in testing how the mechanism worked. In 2006, researchers built a working model based on the design and demonstrated that it could move.

It is often called a robot car, but that modern phrase can mislead. The cart did not have a computer, engine, or autonomous sensing system. Its movement came from stored spring energy and mechanical programming through the arrangement of its components.