Which Leonardo da Vinci device used gears and wheels to move without a horse or human pushing it?

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart used wound springs, gears, and wheels to move without a horse or person pushing it. Drawn around 1478–1480, it is often considered an early ancestor of the automobile and robot.

The cart’s two large drive wheels were powered by coiled leaf springs hidden beneath the frame. A programmable steering system, using small wooden blocks on a drum, could set a route and make the vehicle turn. Leonardo may have intended it for theatrical performances or court ceremonies rather than transportation.

The original machine has not survived, and scholars debate details of its construction. In 2006, an Italian team built a working replica based on the drawings. The cart’s significance is its combination of stored mechanical energy, gearing, and automated control—ideas that later became fundamental to clockwork machines and vehicles.