Leg exoskeleton system and method

A wearable pneumatic exoskeleton system that comprises:

• a left and right pneumatic leg actuator unit configured to be respectively associated with a left and right leg of a user wearing the pneumatic exoskeleton system, the left and right pneumatic actuator units each including:
• a rotatable joint disposed laterally and adjacent to a respective knee of the user with a rotational joint axis of the rotatable joint being disposed coincident with a rotational axis of the respective knee of the user wearing the pneumatic exoskeleton system,
• an upper arm coupled to the rotatable joint and extending along a length of an upper leg portion above the knee of the user wearing the pneumatic exoskeleton system,
• a lower arm coupled to the rotatable joint and extending along a length of a lower leg portion below the knee of the user wearing the pneumatic exoskeleton system, with a distal end of the lower arm coupled to a ski boot of a skiing assembly that includes a pair of ski boots and skis,
• a first and second plate extending from the rotatable joint,
• an inflatable bellows actuator extending between the first and second plate and defining a bellows cavity, the inflatable bellows actuator configured to extend along a length of the bellows actuator when pneumatically inflated by introducing pneumatic fluid into the bellows cavity, and
• a plurality of constraint ribs extending from the rotatable joint and encircling portions of the bellows actuator along the length of the bellows actuator;
• a pneumatic system configured to introduce pneumatic fluid to the bellows actuators of the pneumatic leg actuator units to independently actuate the bellows actuators, and
• an exoskeleton computing device including:
• a plurality of sensors,
• a memory storing at least a control program, and
• a processor that executes the control program to control the pneumatic system based at least in part on data obtained by the exoskeleton computing device including sensor data obtained from the plurality of sensors.