The armored vehicle
The armoured vehicle, invented in 1485, is one of Da Vinci's most famous inventions, some say it inspired people to make the tank. His inspiration for this was a common turtle shell as it is very solid and can withstand attacks, so if say a cannon was fired at the vehicle it would supposedly bounce right off. The picture on the left show two sketches which demonstrate the interior and exterior of the invention which shows us its anatomy. The sketch on the left side of the picture shows the mechanisms used to move the car, e.g. the gears and wheels in the drive system. There is a space in the middle for people to control the machine and power it from the inside. Leonardo did consider having the car powered by an animal such as a horse or an oxen because he figured humans might not have enough force but he realized the unpredictability of these animals in such a confined space plus the excitement from the battle. The sketch on the right shows the invention from an exterior point of few, probably in battle shown by the smoke which conveys projectiles hitting the vehicle or it firing them.
There a two major differences between the armored vehicle and the modern day tank: 1. The shape- This vehicle is circular based and narrows towards the top, with the walls being slanted instead of straight, Da Vinci thought weapons would deflect off easier. 2. The weapons- This vehicle used lots of mini cannons which provides a firing range of 360° whereas the tank usually only has one big gun and possibly a machine gun, although since you are able to turn the gun the whole way round, it too has a firing range of 360°. There is a strange flaw in the design but scholars say that it is far too trivial a mistake for someone so intelligent. The flaw is that the gearing causes the front wheels to move in the opposite direction of the back wheels, so if it was designed, it wouldn't move. A lot of historians say he did it deliberately as he didn't want the machine to be built or possibly if it fell into enemy hands, the mistake would mean no one would now how to make it work except him.
There a two major differences between the armored vehicle and the modern day tank: 1. The shape- This vehicle is circular based and narrows towards the top, with the walls being slanted instead of straight, Da Vinci thought weapons would deflect off easier. 2. The weapons- This vehicle used lots of mini cannons which provides a firing range of 360° whereas the tank usually only has one big gun and possibly a machine gun, although since you are able to turn the gun the whole way round, it too has a firing range of 360°. There is a strange flaw in the design but scholars say that it is far too trivial a mistake for someone so intelligent. The flaw is that the gearing causes the front wheels to move in the opposite direction of the back wheels, so if it was designed, it wouldn't move. A lot of historians say he did it deliberately as he didn't want the machine to be built or possibly if it fell into enemy hands, the mistake would mean no one would now how to make it work except him.
The video above compares Da Vinci's sketches of his invention compared with 3-dimensional modern day replicas. It is a great video in terms of showing the design and mechanics of this invention. I did NOT make this video, it was made by DaVinci Replicas.