Due to the need to manufacture weapons, water-driven barrel boring machines appeared in the 15th century. After J. Watt obtained the patent for a practical steam engine in 1769, the machining accuracy of the cylinder became a key issue for the steam engine. In 1774, the Englishman J. Wilkinson (also translated as John Wilkinson) invented the barrel boring machine, which was used to process the cylinder block for the Watt steam engine the following year. In 1776, he built a more accurate cylinder boring machine. Around 1880, horizontal boring machines with front and rear columns and worktables began to be produced in Germany. In order to adapt to the processing of extra large and extra heavy workpieces, floor-standing boring machines were developed in the 1930s. As the workload of milling increased, floor-standing boring and milling machines appeared in the 1950s. At the beginning of the 20th century, due to the development of the watch and clock instrument manufacturing industry, equipment with smaller hole spacing errors was needed, and coordinate boring machines appeared in Switzerland. In order to improve the positioning accuracy of boring machines, optical reading heads or digital display devices have been widely used. Some boring machines also use digital control systems to automate coordinate positioning and processing processes.