Which Leonardo da Vinci machine used gears to move without being pushed by a person or animal?

Leonardo da Vinci’s gear-driven vehicle was the self-propelled cart.

Leonardo designed the cart around 1478–1480. Springs wound inside its body supplied energy, while a system of gears controlled the movement. The vehicle could be set to follow a predetermined path, making it an early example of a programmable mechanical device.

The cart was not a motorcar in the modern sense. It had no combustion engine and could travel only for a limited distance using stored spring energy. Its steering arrangement also allowed the intended route to be set before operation.

For centuries, scholars debated how the mechanism worked because Leonardo’s drawings were incomplete in places. In 2006, engineers built a working replica in Florence. The machine is sometimes associated with stage machinery, including the possibility that a similar device could have moved during court performances.