Initially, excavators were manual. From their invention to 2013, it has been over 130 years. During this period, they have undergone a gradual development process from steam-driven bucket rotary excavators to electrically driven and internal combustion engine-driven rotary excavators, and then to fully automatic hydraulic excavators applying mechatronic technology. The first hydraulic excavator was successfully invented by the Poclan factory in France. Due to the application of hydraulic technology, suspended excavators equipped with hydraulic backshovels on tractors emerged in the 1940s. In 1951, the first fully hydraulic backhoe excavator was launched by the Poclain factory in France, thus opening up a brand-new space in the field of excavator technology development. In the early and mid-1950s, tower-type fully rotating hydraulic excavators and crawler-type fully hydraulic excavators were successively developed. The initial trial-produced hydraulic excavators adopted the hydraulic technology of aircraft and machine tools, lacking hydraulic components suitable for various working conditions of excavators. The manufacturing quality was not stable enough and the supporting parts were also incomplete. Since the 1960s, hydraulic excavators have entered a stage of promotion and vigorous development. The number of excavator manufacturers and varieties in various countries has increased rapidly, and production has soared. Between 1968 and 1970, the output of hydraulic excavators accounted for 83% of the total output of excavators, approaching 100% [2].

The first generation of excavators: The emergence of electric motors and internal combustion engines provided advanced and suitable electric devices for excavators, and thus various excavator products were born one after another. In 1899, the first electric excavator appeared. After World War I, diesel engines were also applied to excavators. These mechanical excavators driven by diesel engines (or electric motors) were the first generation of excavators.

The second-generation excavators: With the wide application of hydraulic technology, excavators have been equipped with more scientific and applicable transmission devices. The replacement of mechanical transmission by hydraulic transmission represents a major leap in excavator technology. The first hydraulic excavator in Germany was born in 1950. Mechanical transmission hydraulics is the second generation of excavators.

The third-generation excavators: The extensive application of electronic technology, especially computer technology, has endowed excavators with automated control systems and also driven their development towards high performance, automation and intelligence. The nascent stage of mechatronics occurred around 1965, while the application of mechatronics technology in mass-produced hydraulic excavators began around 1985, with the primary aim of energy conservation at that time. The electronicization of excavators is the hallmark of the third-generation excavators.

Excavator industry manufacturers can roughly be divided into four categories. More than 70% of domestic excavators are occupied by foreign brands. Domestic brands are still mainly small and medium-sized excavators, but the share of domestic excavators is gradually increasing, rising by 3.6% year-on-year in 2012.