Leonardo Davinci Inventions
Leonardo Da Vinci, best known for his paintings of the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, was born in 1452 and died in 1519. Da Vinci was more than a painter; he was also a sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist and inventor. His designs for inventions were mostly for his own personal use and many were starting points for further development. Da Vinci would purposely leave out information or add wrong information and use his left-handed mirror-writing to protect his ideas from being stolen.
Flying Machines
Fascinated by flight, Da Vinci sketched his flying inventions of a helicopter and a glider. Da Vinci's helicopter sketch was the first known design and concept of this idea. He called this invention the Arial-Screw because of its spiral aerodynamic screw design. Da Vinci's glider was the first plane design capable of flight and is similar to the gliders used today. The frame was made out of bamboo shoots and the wing made out of resin cotton.
War Inventions
Da Vinci's machine gun and military tank inventions were designed with soldiers in mind. Da Vinci's machine-gun design consisted of three-tiers that contained 11 barrels in each of the three tiers into which the projectiles are loaded. The second tier is loaded while firing the first tier allowing the third tier to cool down before being loaded and fired again. Da Vinci's military tank had a dome-shaped top similar to the shell of a turtle, which was designed to deflect enemy projectiles. The tank moved by turning gear cranks located inside, which turned the wheels.
Robot
In 1495, Da Vinci created the first robot in human form. This robot appeared as a knight wearing Italian-German armor. His reason for creating the robot was to prove to himself that the body of a human being could be imitated. Da Vinci's robot could stand, walk, sit, open and close its mouth and raise its arms. The head could also move from side to side as it had an anatomically correct jaw.
Bronze Monument
This invention was to be the largest monument cast in bronze and Da Vinci invented a way to cast a monument on a huge scale. This statue of a horse was 24 feet high and was first cast in clay. Before the statue could be bronzed, the invading French armies destroyed the original clay statue in 1498.
Improvements to Existing Inventions
Da Vinci also made improvements on designs already invented including a parachute, maps and a scaling ladder. There is evidence that the parachute was invented before Da Vinci's time, but he sketches a parachute made of linen cloth and wooden poles for a frame. Maps and cartography, which is the process of map making, is another invention Da Vinci improved upon. Maps were rare and the ones made were not very detailed or exact. Da Vinci's map-making was exceedingly accurate, as he would personally walk every field and street in order to measure distances on the map. The military used scaling ladders to climb the walls of enemy fortresses. Da Vinci's improvement to the scaling ladder was to add his gearing knowledge that integrated a gear with large teeth to extend the ladder. The ladders used today by firefighters still use this concept.
