In 2002, Mark Rosheim built a prototype of da Vinci’s mechanical knight using the original schematics/notes.  The construction of the knight proved that da Vinci’s original design was feasible and worked as intended.  Mark Rosheim was inspired by da Vinci in his career with NASA where he designed robots.  Image is a modern reconstruction of the mechanical knight in 2007 in the Leonardo3 laboratories.  Image by Leonardo3 - Mario Taddei - Photo in the Leonardo3 Laboratories, GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5666658