Did Leonardo da Vinci build a Robot?

Everybody knows that Da Vinci wore many hats during his lifetime. The man was not only known for his revolutionary inventions, drawings, paintings, sculptures but his work on architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, paleontology, and cartography has been studied till date. He has been variously called the father of paleontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. But did he also contribute to one of humanity’s greatest pursuits; Robotics?

Ludovico Sforza, one of the Da Vinci’s patrons hosted a ball in the court of Milan in the year 1495. Leo walked in with a friend, Automa cavaliere, or the Automatic knight. That may have been the first time humans ever witnessed the first-ever mechanical man which was later as the humanoid. Leonardo’s robot could stand, sit, raise its visor and independently manoeuver its arms, and had an anatomically correct jaw. The robot is described as being clad in German-Italian medieval armor and is able to make several human-like motions. It is partially a result of Leonardo’s anatomical research in the Canon of Proportions as described in the Vitruvian Man.

Fast forward to 2020, Leonardo di predict that humanity will embrace technology and make machines that are incredibly intelligent. But I am sure he will be intrigued to see the 21st-century robots like Pepper, Mitra, and Sophia.

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