Which Leonardo da Vinci invention was a wooden armored vehicle powered by cranks?

Leonardo da Vinci’s tank was a wooden armored vehicle powered by cranks.

Leonardo designed the fighting vehicle around 1487 for military use. Its conical, covered body was intended to protect soldiers while carrying weapons around its perimeter. Inside, people would turn cranks connected to gears and wheels to move the vehicle across the ground.

The machine is often called Leonardo’s tank, although that modern term did not exist in the Renaissance. The design was not built as a functioning battlefield vehicle in Leonardo’s lifetime. One famous drawing also contains a gear arrangement that appears to make the vehicle unable to move, possibly because of a deliberate drafting error or a later misunderstanding.

Leonardo’s fighting vehicle illustrates his interest in combining engineering and military technology. It should not be confused with a modern tank, which uses an engine, continuous tracks, and a turreted weapons system.