Which Leonardo da Vinci invention was a self-propelled cart that could follow a programmed route?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a self-propelled cart that could follow a programmed route.

The cart was described in Leonardo’s notebooks and used springs to store energy. Cams and other mechanical components controlled the movement of its wheels, allowing the cart to travel without a person pushing it. The arrangement is often compared with a very early programmable machine because its actions were determined by the positions of mechanical parts.

A full-scale reconstruction was built in 2006 by the Italian engineer Carlo Pedretti and a team in Florence. The reconstruction demonstrated that the design could work when its gearing was interpreted correctly. The cart was not an automobile: it had no engine, steering system, or fuel motor in the modern sense.

The invention is also called Leonardo’s self-propelled cart or automobile. It is separate from Leonardo’s mechanical knight, which was a human-shaped automaton intended to move its arms and head.