Elenco SelfPropelled Cart - Manual (Page 9)

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Leonardo’s design called for springs, which are coiled within barrels similar to
pistons, to release their pre-set energy to move the object. The cart’s moving parts
relied upon levers and gears, similar to those that would animate a primitive robot
in Da Vinci’s time. Leonardo was quite adept at constructing robots for royalty and
court pageants and historians believe the cart was designed as a special attraction
for Renaissance festivals, meant to instill wonder and awe in attendees.
Like many of Leonardo's sketches, the self-propelled cart remained on paper
throughout Da Vinci’s lifetime – we can only speculate that the machine was either
considered too dangerous to operate or the inventor did not have adequate materials
to build it. Da Vinci’s cart was so ahead of its time that its exact workings were not
understood until late in the 20th century. In the 1990’s scholars determined that
the springs in Da Vinci’s cart were not for power, but for steering as well so engineers
set out to build a working model based on Da Vinci’s design. This proved not only
that Leonardo's self-propelled cart really worked, but Da Vinci was centuries ahead
of his time with another influential invention.
Vocabulary Words
Cam - a rotating or sliding piece (as an eccentric wheel or a cylinder) in a mechanical
linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice versa
Coil Spring - A helical or spiral spring, such as one of the helical springs used over the front
wheels in an automotive suspension.
Gear - A toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed
or direction of transmitted motion
Propel - To impel, drive, or cause to move forward
Rack and Pinion Steering - A helical or spiral spring, such as one used over the front wheels
in an automotive suspension.