ExoJETS: Exoskeletal Jump Thrust System

Combat parachute jumping is a high-risk activity, with significant potential for injuries that require time and resources to resolve, slowing the unit down, and increasing their risk of being attacked. The Army seeks the development of an exoskeleton system that mitigates Parachute Landing Fall (PLF) forces experienced by Warfighters with the goal of reducing injuries. These PLF injuries are closely correlated with touch points, where the body of the subject impacts the ground, which include feet, calf, thigh, rear, and back. While exoskeletons have been used successfully to absorb energy associated with high joint torques, a detailed analysis shows that any system that increases overall weight without compensating for added impact in ALL touch points has a greater likelihood of actually INCREASING injury probability and severity than no system at all. Therefore, short of creating a full-body exoskeleton, which is not feasible for this application, the key challenge in the design of a PLF-injury-mitigating exoskeleton is to reduce impact force below what would be present with no exoskeleton. FTL’s ExoJETS is a powerful new enabling technology for injury mitigation and data logging during a parachute landing. ExoJETS mitigates injury during a parachute landing by reducing the landing velocity just before touch down. ExoJETS is compact system that includes environmental sensing for control and IMUs for biomechanics logging. It is also compatible existing assistive exoskeleton systems for rapid landing zone departure and assisting loaded movement to the aircraft. ExoJET’s body-worn sensors collect real-time data on the biomechanics of para-jumping to provide unit training insight to both Warfighters and Military Units and potentially inform proper or dangerous landing techniques.