Industry 4.0 will upgrade and transform the manufacturing technology of industry, hydraulics drive technigue is no exception for changing. Comparisons and analysis between the traditional and modern hydraulic drive techniques are firstly made in all stages of the course. Based on which suggestions were given that hydraulics in modern time should incorporate into the state of the art technology with respect to both theoretical research and field application to make breakthrough in the traditional developement mode. Research and applications related to hydraulics were reviewed from the aspect of applying smart materials, innovation structure design, adopting advanced manufacturing technology and expanding applications in new field. Considering the new feature of industry 4.0 and the problem emerged through the development of hydraulics, future development prospects are discussed in order to provide guidelines for technological upgrade and innovation development for hydraulics.