Grasping State Analysis of Multi-DOF Soft Manipulators Based on Multimodal Sensing and Deep Spiking Fuzzy Network

Current research on grasping state analysis in soft manipulators is limited and lacks broad applicability. In this article, we introduce a novel method that leverages multimodal data from flexible sensors and inertial measurement units (IMUs) to develop a comprehensive grasping state analysis system for multidegree-of-freedom (multi-DOF) pneumatic soft manipulators. A deep spiking high-dimensional fuzzy network (DSHTFN) algorithm is specifically designed to analyze the “3S” grasping states of soft manipulators—shaking, stable, and slipping—with greater depth and precision. A novel membership function, the Bernoulli-Arctangent (B-Atan) function, has been designed to accommodate the unique characteristics of spiking input signals and support backpropagation capabilities. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method achieves accuracies of 95.66% and 96.05% in opposing-finger and three-fingered soft manipulator operations, respectively. Through comparative analysis with other algorithms, the superior performance of the B-Atan membership function and the DSHTFN approach in analyzing the grasping states of soft manipulators has been validated.