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{{About|the automaton design by Leonardo da Vinci|the robotic surgical device occasionally referred to as a "da Vinci robot”|da Vinci Surgical System}}
{{Short description|Automaton designed by Leonardo da Vinci}}
[[File:Leonardo-Robot3.jpg|thumb|Model of Leonardo's robot with inner workings, on display in Berlin]]
'''Leonardo's robot''', or '''Leonardo's mechanical knight''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Automa cavaliere'', lit. "Automaton knight"), is a humanoid [[automaton]] designed and possibly constructed by [[Leonardo da Vinci]] in the late 15th century.<ref name=":02">{{Citation |title=Leonardo's Knight |date=2006 |work=Leonardo’s Lost Robots |pages=69–113 |url=https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/3-540-28497-4_3?sharing_token=NdQiCWIO34-S2B3in1tAa_e4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY5rdytw2DBGfURjm_6v04inZMaBk3blSfDzPC3XPYDCDK3YK5SVbpCMODDyvLDFTZg6dslzgx0INVSmx28GYCjeY_iruu193nVuxDvxFxVqiA%3D%3D |access-date=2024-11-05 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |language=en |doi=10.1007/3-540-28497-4_3 |isbn=978-3-540-28440-6|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

The robot’s design largely consists of a series of [[Pulley|pulleys]] that allow it to mimic human motions.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Moran |first=Michael E. |date=December 2006 |title=Epochs in Endourology The da Vinci Robot |url=https://www.endourology.org/images/endourology-history-articles/The-da-Vinci-Robot.pdf |journal=Journal of Endourology |volume=20|issue=12 |pages=986–990 |doi=10.1089/end.2006.20.986 |pmid=17206888 }}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last=Rosheim |first=M.E. |date=August 6, 2002 |title=In the Footsteps of Leonardo |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/591641 |journal=IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=12–14 |doi=10.1109/100.591641 |via=IEEE|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Operational versions of the robot have been reconstructed by multiple researchers after the discovery of Leonardo’s sketches in the 1950s.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":42" /> Leonardo’s designs may have served as inspirations for robotics projects backed by [[NASA]] and [[Intuitive Surgical]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

== History ==
Leonardo possibly started sketching ideas for his robot before he began work on [[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]].<ref name=":52">{{Cite web |date=November 4, 2024 |title=Leonardo's Robot |url=https://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/genscheda.asp?appl=LIR&xsl=slideshow&lingua=ENG&chiave=101791#:~:text=This%20robot%20would%20influence%20his,more%20versatile%20general%20purpose%20robots |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Museo Galileo Institute and Museum of the History of Science}}</ref> Though no complete drawings of the automaton survived, Leonardo’s notes suggest he may have constructed a prototype around 1495, while he was under the patronage of [[Ludovico Sforza]], the Duke of Milan.<ref name=":02" />

Leonardo’s initial studies in [[anatomy]] and [[kinesiology]], as recorded in his Codex Huygens, may have informed his desire to design an automated device.<ref name=":12" /> The principles of his humanoid robot can be found among a set of folios composed of anatomical sketches that are believed to follow his [[Vitruvian Man|Vitruvian Canon of Proportions]].<ref name=":12" />

Leonardo’s interest in engineering may have also inspired him to create his automaton, which appears in the form of a mechanical knight.<ref name=":72">{{Cite journal |last=Jose |first=Antony Merlin |date=2001 |title=Anatomy and Leonardo da Vinci |journal=The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine |volume=74 |issue=74 |pages=185–195|pmid=11501715 |pmc=2588719 }}</ref> Before Leonardo designed his mechanical knight, eyewitness accounts detail how he created a mechanical lion that could move independently of human intervention.<ref name=":62">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-16 |title=7 Early Robots and Automatons |url=https://www.history.com/news/7-early-robots-and-automatons |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> The mechanical lion was displayed in many public venues including the wedding of [[Marie de' Medici#:~:text=The marriage contract was signed,favorite the Duc de Bellegarde|Maria de Medici]] and at the arrival of the French King [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] in [[Lyon]] in 1515.<ref name=":12" />
[[File:Leonardo_Da_Vinci_Robot_Leonardo3_2008-1.jpg|thumb|A modern reconstruction of the robot of Leonardo da Vinci in the Leonardo3 laboratories, in 2007]]

== Design ==
Leonardo’s robot is largely controlled by a system of pulleys composed of a central driver, individual drivers, and supporting [[Idler pulley|idler pulleys]].<ref name=":02" /> The inside of the robot's chest contains a mechanical controller for the arms.<ref name=":02" /> This controller triggers the [[Worm drive|worm gears]] connected to the robot’s pulley system, enabling the robot to wave its arms.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":32" /> The robot’s legs are controlled with an external [[Crank (mechanism)|crank]] and cable system attached to key pivots on the ankles, knees, and hips.<ref name=":12" /> The robot’s inner mechanisms are hidden behind a German-Italian suit of medieval armor.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Pasek |first=Anne |date=2014 |title=Renaissance Robotics: Leonardo da Vinci's Lost Knight and Enlivened Materiality |url=https://shiftjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/01_Pasek.pdf |journal=Graduate Journal of Visual and Material Culture |issue=7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103212349/https://shiftjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/01_Pasek.pdf |archive-date=2023-11-03 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The robot’s head has a hinged jaw and is attached to a flexible neck.<ref name=":12" /> The robot’s body can sit upright and move its arms around in various directions.<ref name=":12" /> The robot's lower body operates with three [[Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|degrees of freedom]] while the arms utilize a four-degree-of-freedom system, possibly so the robot can perform whole-arm grasping.<ref name=":32" />

Drums located inside of the robot produce sounds as the rest of the body moves.<ref name=":12" /> Like many other mechanical forms of palatial entertainment at the time, the robot may have been designed to scare audiences.<ref name=":22" />

== Modern reconstructions ==
Around the 1950s, researcher [[Carlo Pedretti]] discovered sketchbooks containing Leonardo’s notes on the mechanical knight, with numerous fragmented sketches and design details scattered across various pages.<ref name=":12" />

After meeting Pedretti in 1993, roboticist Mark Rosheim collaborated with him to piece together the fragmented sketches and develop a [[Computer-aided design|CAD]] reconstruction of the robot.<ref name=":82">{{Cite magazine |last=Vanderbilt |first=Tom |title=The Real da Vinci Code |url=https://www.wired.com/2004/11/davinci/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

In 2002, the [[BBC]] filmed Rosheim reconstructing Leonardo’s robot.<ref name=":02" /> Rosheim combined his own designs with Leonardo’s preliminary sketches for his reconstruction.<ref name=":02" /> He also used a photo of Renaissance armor to plan the exterior of the robot and ensure that all of the robot’s fragments aligned.<ref name=":02" /> To account for the compressed filming schedule of two weeks, Rosheim simplified the design and used a stock suit of armor.<ref name=":02" />

In 2007, [[Mario Taddei]], technical director and researcher at the [[Leonardo3 Museum|Leonardo3]] (L3) research center and museum in [[Milan]], also reconstructed Leonardo’s robot.<ref name=":42">{{Cite web |last=Angeles |title=A robot over five centuries old, Leonardo's mechanical knight |url=https://rosfilmfestival.com/en/a-robot-over-five-centuries-old-leonardos-mechanical-knight/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=ROS Robotic Online Shortfilm Festival |language=en-US}}</ref> Both Taddei and Rosheim’s reconstructions were operational.<ref name=":42" />

== Legacy ==
NASA commissioned Mark Rosheim to design an advanced humanoid robot called Surrogate and nicknamed "Surge”.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=JPL's Surrogate Robot |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia18792-jpls-surrogate-robot/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) |language=en-US}}</ref> Rosheim drew inspiration from Leonardo’s robotic designs, integrating principles from Leonardo's exploration of human-like movement and mechanical function into Surge's design.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2017-02-20 |title=Leonardo's Robot |url=https://www.indramat-us.com/leonardos-robot/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=Indramat Products |language=en-US}}</ref>

Intuitive Surgical launched the first [[da Vinci Surgical System]] in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Intuitive History |url=https://www.intuitive.com/en-us/about-us/company/history |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=www.intuitive.com}}</ref> It is believed that the robotic-assisted surgical system was named after Leonardo da Vinci as an homage to his contributions to the fields of human anatomy, mechanics, and automation.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=November 13, 2024 |title=Why is the technology called the da Vinci? |url=https://www.genesishealth.com/a-z/surgery/robotic-surgery/davinci/frequently-asked-questions/#:~:text=Why%20is%20the%20technology%20called,made%20around%20the%20year%201495. |access-date=November 13, 2024 |website=Mercy One Genesis}}</ref> Some also argue that the name of the surgical system commemorates how Leonardo’s robot appears to be the first human automaton to prove that the mechanisms in human bodies could be replicated using machinery.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2011-04-02 |title=The Da Vinci Robot - USC Viterbi School of Engineering |url=https://illumin.usc.edu/the-da-vinci-robot/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=illumin.usc.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Leonardo da Vinci}}
{{Humanoid robots}}

[[Category:Historical robots]]
[[Category:Humanoid robots]]
[[Category:Leonardo da Vinci projects]]
[[Category:Robots of Italy]]
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