1070-9932/16©2016IEEE MARCH 2016 • IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE • 83 B ioinspiration in robotics deals with applying biolog- ical principles to the design of better performing devices. In this article, we propose a novel bioin- spired framework using motor primitives for loco- motion assistance through a wearable cooperative exoskeleton. In particular, the use of motor primitives for assisting different locomotion modes (i.e., ground-level walking at several cadences and ascending and descending stairs) is explored by means of two different strategies. In the first strategy, identified motor primitives are combined through weights to directly produce the desired assistive torque profiles. In the second strategy, identified motor primi- tives are combined to serve as neural stimulations to a virtual model of the musculoskeletal system, which, in turn, pro- duces the desired assistive torque profiles. This article further reports the results of an experiment conducted with healthy participants, where the proposed Walking Assistance Using Artificial Primitives By Virginia Ruiz Garate, Andrea Parri, Tingfang Yan, Marko Munih, Raffaele Molino Lova, Nicola Vitiello, and Renaud Ronsse A Novel Bioinspired Framework Using Motor Primitives for Locomotion Assistance Through a Wearable Cooperative Exoskeleton SKY IMAGE LICENSED BY GRAPHIC STOCK, HIKER IMAGE ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/KENCOR04 Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2015.2510778 Date of publication: 23 February 2016