Here's a poorly made video of it being used:

When I first made the crane it was wicked however I found it very difficult to puppet using string so I thought of a way actuate it by using a spare bowden tube and PC4 M10 connector. This connects to the two outer rods and feeds the filament down the middle. By reusing the existing parts you can simply install the upper plate rod upside down and use a long piece of filament to lock it in. This locked in filament is fed through the bowden tube and out with some spare at the end. You can now pull and push the filament through to open and close the claw. In theory this could then use an extruder stepper motor to make it fully remote by having the stepper feed the filament like it does a normal printer.