Get involved in our efforts to advance rehabilitation science by downloading OpenSim. Since OpenSim was made available to the public in 2007, thousands of students and researchers have used it to perform biomechanical studies. Explore how it can enhance your research and participate in our community, learning from others and sharing your own knowledge.

 

1. Register with SimTK.org.

Your first step is to register on SimTK.org. OpenSim projects live here, and once registered you will be connected to thousands of like-minded engineers, scientists, and physicians.

2. Download OpenSim.

Next, download the OpenSim software by visiting the OpenSim downloads page.  An executable version that can be downloaded and quickly installed is available for Windows.  Application program interface (API) versions are available for developers on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

3. Do the tutorials.

The fastest way to learn OpenSim is by going through the tutorials available on the OpenSim Examples Page:

Tutorial 1:  Introduction to Musculoskeletal Modeling

Tutorial 2:  Simulation and Analysis of a Tendon Transfer Surgery

Tutorial 3:  Scaling, Inverse Kinematics, and Inverse Dynamics

You'll also find a user guide, a developer’s guide, and many other resources for becoming familiar with OpenSim.

4. Deepen your knowledge.

Check out our Support page for information and materials to further advance your use of OpenSim, including:

  • New tutorials and examples
  • Additional models and simulation data
  • A list of upcoming events, including webinars and workshops

5. Join the conversation.

Share your ideas and get answers to your questions through the OpenSim discussion forums.

Create your own project on SimTK.org to easily share your research results.  This lets others build upon your work.  It’s good for the entire field, and for you personally, it can lead to more citations and collaborations!

You can find more information about creating and managing projects on SimTK.org in the site's Simtk user guide.

Make sure you get the latest news about NCSRR and related projects by signing up for the email newsletter.

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News & Announcements

OpenSim lower limb model in Super Bowl Nike commercial

Feb 06, 2017

The Nike commercial during the Super Bowl includes footage from OpenSim and our lower limb model.

View commercial - The model appears around the 25-second mark.

OpenSim simulations yield insights into the design of assistive devices to reduce the metabolic cost of running

Oct 25, 2016

Mobilize Center researcher Thomas Uchida and OpenSim researchers published a paper in PLOS One where they generated muscle-driven simulations of movement to augment experimental data and provide insights into the design of assistive devices to reduce energy consumption during running.

Using the open-source OpenSim software platform, they simulated 10 human subjects running at 2 and 5 m/s to examine the predicted changes in muscle recruitment patterns and metabolic power consumption with assistive devices.

Results from the simulations yielded observations that can be used to form hypotheses for future experimental studies.

Read full article

NIH supports OpenSim for five more years

Nov 24, 2015

We are excited to announce that the OpenSim project has secured an additional five years of funding through the renewal of our NIH-funded National Center for Simulation in Rehabilitation Research (NCSRR). We are grateful to everyone who provided a letter of support for our renewal application, and we thank all members of the community for contributing to the growth and vibrancy of the project by participating in our forum, attending workshops, teaching with OpenSim, and publishing excellent research.

In the coming years, the NCSRR will continue to support and expand the OpenSim project by enhancing the OpenSim software platform and continuing our Visiting Scholars, Pilot Project, OpenSim Fellows, workshop, and online training programs.

OpenSim highlighted in the Nature Toolbox Blog

Oct 04, 2015

The Nature Toolbox blog highlighted OpenSim in a recent story,
Motion studies: See how they run
. The article included a broader discussion about the contributions of open-source modeling and simulation software for the study of human and animal locomotion. The article talks about the benefits, and drawbacks, of these large-scale software platforms as well as the communities they can create.