Mechanisms and instruments

Leonardo devoted much of his thinking to mechanics and the study of the fundamental components of machines, analyzing their principles and operating criteria.

In his drawings, the individual machine elements—such as the screw, the toothed or pinion wheel, the spool, the pulley, and the springs—combine with each other to create mechanisms and tools capable of performing more or less complex operations.
The study of motion and its transmission led Leonardo to conceive pulley systems for lifting heavy loads, mechanisms for motion transformation, and devices to eliminate or reduce friction.