During his lifetime Leonardo da Vinci was valued as an engineer. With his vast imagination some of his inventions were not devisable (at least not at that time). In 2001, a vision of his was modeled by some engineers who built a small bridge based on his ideas. Even today, his engineering ideas still fascinate researchers.

The first parachute had been sketched by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century. Leonardo’s parachute design consists of sealed linen cloth held open by a pyramid of wooden poles, approximately 7m long. A practical parachute was developed in 1783, it consisted of the same fundamental engineering as da Vinci's design.

Though the first actual helicopter was not built until the 1940s, it is believed that Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches from the late 15th century were the predecessor to the modern day flying machine. Da Vinci wrote next to his sketches of the following description: "If this instrument made with a screw be well made – that is to say, made of linen of which the pores are stopped up with starch and be turned swiftly, the said screw will make its spiral in the air and it will rise high."

Leonardo da Vinci had many ideas that included the use of pulleys, weights and gears. Da Vinci incorporated these mechanisms into his self-propelled cart invention, which many people consider the very first robot. However, da Vinci used the parts to create another robot too, his 'Robotic Knight'. Though a full drawing of da Vinci’s robotic knight has never been recovered, fragments detailing different aspects of the knight have been found throughout his notebooks.

Designed for a pageant in Milan (which the Duke had put Leonardo in charge of overseeing), the 'Robotic Knight' consisted of a knight suit filled with gears and wheels that were connected to an elaborate pulley and cable system. Through these mechanisms, da Vinci’s robotic knight was autonomous in terms of: sitting down, standing up, moving its head and lifting its visor.

Using several different da Vinci drawings as blueprints, roboticist Mark Rosheim built a prototype of the robotic knight in 2002, which was able to walk and wave. Rosheim noted how da Vinci had designed the robotic knight to be easily constructed, without a single unnecessary part. Rosheim also used da Vinci’s designs as inspiration for robots he developed for NASA