From the greek word hudraulikos hudor meaning water and aulos pipe the science of hydraulics first developed in the 17th and 18th centuries hydraulic machinery became used in the 19th century seen for instance at work at tower bridge in london but it was not until the 1960s that hydraulic robotic arms began to be developed for application in industry using basic hydraulic and robotic principles an easyshytoshybuild working 3shyd model the arm can reach to 16 lift small items horizo