A Drone With Arms And Claws: Both Prosaic - and Predatory

A little spooky, but no doubt useful in the right 'hands...' And certainly a precursor of adaptations to come. JL

Madison Margolin reports in Motherboard:

The arms allow the drone to handle cargo of different shapes and sizes, or to perform other tasks like cutting cables, attaching objects, or flipping switches. Moreover, drones like this can perform such tasks in environments that may be too dangerous or inconvenient for humans to get to, at high altitudes or over long distances.
A Japanese company introduced a drone with the capacity to perform tasks in dangerous environments.
The large format Prodrome PD6B-AW-ARM has a maximum payload of 20 kilograms, or 44 pounds, and a pair of 5-axis robotic arms, equipped with a variety of motions and tilts that can lift up to 10 kilograms, or about 22 pounds. With the ability to fly for 30 minutes at a time, this drone can carry dangerous materials or transport cargo to remote locations.
The new drone was displayed at InterDrone, The International Drone Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas. The Prodrone company, headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, has developed various commercial and industrial use drones. Until recently, commercial drones have been used mostly for photography and filming, but Prodrone is developing a drone with more "hands-on" operations—hence the robotic arms.
The arms allow the drone to handle cargo of different shapes and sizes, or to perform other tasks like cutting cables, attaching objects, or flipping switches. Moreover, drones like this can perform such tasks in environments that may be too dangerous or inconvenient for humans to get to, at high altitudes or over long distances. The Prodrone company is focused on creating "task-oriented drones," said Prodrone CEO Masakazu Kono. "The PD6B-AW-ARM makes a whole new range of tasks possible."
Among those tasks, YouTube commenters on the drone's promotional video asked if it could do such things as walk a dog, retrieve objects caught in trees, or snatch bikini tops (perv alert). Others worried its "talons" posed a safety threat. One commenter warned, "Wait until it starts grabbing people."
Only time will tell what this drone and others will do with their new technology. But maybe drones could help us stay out of more dangerous conditions.