A 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics

The fact that someone has converted one to run on steam is very appropriate given that the single-power-source design was the norm for industry until the 20th century, and it's not hard to imagine in a steampunk universe a much scaled-up, metal version of this arm in a factory, powered by a lineshaft:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_shaft

I think an ideal steam-punk version of this would have multiple pistons instead of complicated gears, one for each degree of freedom, powered by a central boiler and controlled by brass valves. i.e. pneumatic, but steam instead of air.