Leonardo da Vinci is commonly known as a genius Renaissance artist, famous for his iconic paintings such as the “Mona Lisa”. In addition to his renowned artworks, Leonardo was also a great inventor with timeless ideas such as: autonomous vehicles and machine guns…
13 Great Inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci
Airplane
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Leonardo da Vinci sketched a flying machine based on his anatomical knowledge of birds and bats. The most notable feature of the design is the large wings connected to a wooden frame. The pilot inside could lie face down and move the wings up and down by turning a crank, creating a motion through a series of rods and pulleys. However, Da Vinci never built his design in reality. Four hundred years later, Wilbur and Orville Wright successfully completed the first flight in an airplane in 1903.
Helicopter
Image: Scientifics.
Modern scientists believe that Da Vinci’s design for the “helicopter” would require four men to operate and would be difficult to lift off the ground. Nevertheless, it remains one of his most famous ideas.
Da Vinci may have drawn inspiration from the popular toy windmills of the Renaissance era.
Armored Vehicle
(Image: Stanford University)
Perhaps one of Leonardo’s most famous weapons is the armored vehicle. The vehicle is circular in shape, covered with sharp-edged plates of steel, adjustable to fend off enemy attacks. The model is equipped with several lightweight cannons arranged around the perimeter, allowing it to attack enemies from all angles. Inside, eight men would operate the vehicle using a hand crank and gears.
The armored vehicle was designed to protect against enemy forces in battle. The vehicle he invented operated through human power, shielded by a sturdy outer metal shell. Weapons could be fired through gaps in the shell, allowing soldiers to engage without being exposed to enemy fire. Like the airplane, Da Vinci did not construct the armored vehicle in reality. When World War I broke out, armored tanks made their debut on the battlefields of Europe.
Although Da Vinci did not build this device himself, he envisioned a wooden frame armored in iron mounted on wheels, with gaps for guns to protrude, enabling this machine to charge across the battlefield.
“This is a beautiful example of creativity in Leonardo’s drawings. This design is far more powerful than the inventions of his contemporaries. He represented the idea of a tank gliding over the ground, kicking up dust at high speeds,” stated Claudio Giorgione, co-director of the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Italy’s largest science and technology museum.
One noteworthy point is that Da Vinci’s original design has a serious flaw: the front and rear wheels of the tank rotate in opposite directions. If the manufacturers had followed the model exactly, the vehicle would have been unable to move. Considering Da Vinci’s pacifist ideology and clear understanding of machinery mechanisms, some historians believe this was a deliberate act of sabotage.
Diving Suit
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
The diving suit is primarily made from leather and includes an outfit along with a mask featuring glass lenses. In his notes, Da Vinci described how air circulated in the inflated area of the leather suit, allowing the wearer to breathe underwater. He also sketched suits with containers for urine and various pockets for necessary tools.
Unmanned Vehicle
Leonardo also designed the first unmanned vehicle. His vehicle resembles a three-wheeled cart powered by springs that rotate the wheels. Initially, historians believed this vehicle was purely imaginary until they realized the leaf-shaped springs could be practically constructed.
So how could an unmanned vehicle become a weapon? It’s simple: the user just needs to load explosives and gunpowder onto the vehicle before letting it roll automatically towards the enemy.
33-Barrel Organ Gun
True to its name, this weapon consists of 33 cannons arranged in a fan shape across multiple rows. Da Vinci’s purpose in designing this type of artillery was to solve two major problems with conventional cannons: slow firing rates and inaccuracies.
The “organ” gun with 33 barrels could fire multiple cannonballs simultaneously. While one row was being loaded, the next could be fired, allowing for continuous fire. Moreover, the arrangement of the cannons in a fan shape increased the likelihood of hitting targets with each volley.
(Image: leonardodavinci.net)
The ability to inflict widespread damage made it an ideal weapon against large advancing forces. It was also designed to be lightweight and equipped with wheels, allowing it to be easily moved across the battlefield. However, there is no evidence that this type of weapon was ever produced. Da Vinci later designed a smaller 11-barrel version, but it seems this version also remained on the drawing board.
Three-Barrel Cannon
Leonardo was very interested in rapid-fire weapons. With this design, the barrels were arranged to fire in succession. Leonardo soon recognized a limitation in his design: the barrels heated up too quickly. To address this issue, he designed the machine to allow the barrels to be easily disassembled and replaced, increasing the speed of loading gunpowder and firing. In fact, this type of cannon was functional. In the 20th century, Croatian children playing in a fortress discovered a cannon later confirmed to be Da Vinci’s design in 2011. Historians believe the Venetian army used this cannon in battles against the Turks.
Breech-Loading Cannon
Leonardo designed a type of cannon that loaded from the rear rather than the front. Prior to this, cannons were always loaded from the front. This method had two major drawbacks: slow speed and danger. If the cannon malfunctioned, the loader could easily be injured. Leonardo also suggested using water to cool the barrels, helping to prevent malfunctions and increase accuracy. Water-cooled barrels later became popular. For example, during World War II, the M1917 Browning Machine Gun used water conduits to cool the barrel.
Humanoid Robot
Under the patronage of Duke Sforza, Da Vinci invented the “robot knight” that could wave its arms, move its neck, and even open and close its mouth. The robot was controlled by strings interacting with a crank and internal mechanical mechanisms. Approximately 450 years later, detailed sketches of his invention were discovered. In 2002, Mark Rosheim, a robotics expert, built a robot model based on Da Vinci’s notes for NASA and Lockheed Martin.
Drawbridge
Image: Da Vinci Studio.
Leonardo da Vinci believed that a movable bridge, capable of rotating, would be a useful tool in warfare. The bridge was designed to be made from sturdy yet lightweight materials, equipped with a system of ropes and pulleys, allowing an army to cross it and raise it when necessary.
The Ideal City
Photo: Pinterest.
During the plague outbreak in Milan, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci envisioned a more ideal city that he proudly referred to as home. His architectural draft was meticulously designed, including stables with ventilation holes, an underground drainage system, and designated lanes for pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages, and other public services.
Fossils of Mollusks
Photo: Jaume Vila
Most people living in Leonardo da Vinci’s time explained the presence of mollusk fossils found on mountain tops and dry land as remnants of the legendary Great Flood.
However, Leonardo da Vinci posited that these mountains had once been submerged under the sea before they rose many years later.
Giant Crossbow
The giant crossbow measures over 25 meters in length. With six wheels installed, it could maneuver around the battlefield. Operated by a hand crank, the giant crossbow did not require many operators, needing only one soldier to attach the arrow to the firing groove and wait to fire.
However, this design was considered not very effective. Leonardo designed it as a cheaper alternative to expensive artillery. In reality, guns and cannons were superior to the giant crossbow in every aspect.
