New Features in OpenSim 3.0

OpenSim 3.0 is our biggest upgrade to-date. We've added new features, including live model editing, scripting in Matlab and the OpenSim application, and improved muscle models. We've enhanced some of the core existing OpenSim functionality, including our muscle models and tools for visualizing forces and other motion data. OpenSim 3.0 also includes a host of usability improvements for beginning users to advanced developers. Read more about the new features and improvements below.

Live Model Editing in the Graphical User Interface (GUI)

• You can now edit almost any property of an OpenSim model in the GUI using the Property Editor and Outputs List.  Markers, body masses, muscle max isometric force, and joint locations and other model parameters can be easily adjusted. You no longer have to perform the tedious process of editing, saving, and loading xml files when editing and refining your OpenSim models.
• When editing you can Undo/Redo your changes. This includes the Marker Editor and Muscle Editor, eliminating the old, and sometimes confusing, Backup and Restore mechanism. 
• You can select model objects in the 3D view window via double click. The selected object will appear in the Property Editor, so you can see its properties and edit them. 
• We've added the ability to save and load marker sets from a separate XML file, so you can reuse marker sets with different models. Read more in the Marker Editor page.

Scripting from Matlab and the GUI for Batch Processing and Extending OpenSim

• Many OpenSim users have a large number of subjects, trials, or designs to study. 
  
  • Scripting allows you to automate your research workflows to accelerate your work or share your workflow with colleagues. 
  • You can use GUI scripting to access and edit model properties, run tools, create plots, and more.
  • You can use Matlab scripting to access and edit model properties, run tools, and call the API visualizer. Plus you can integrate Matlab's native functionality, like its optimizer and plotting abilities.
• More and more users want to extend the functionality of OpenSim by accessing its API or application programming interface, but learning C++ and setting up a development environment is a barrier. You can now access much of the OpenSim API using Matlab or GUI scripts.
• We've created documentation and a host of examples to demonstrate how to use the new GUI and Matlab scripting features. Read more in the chapter on Scripting.

GUI Usability Improvements

Loading and Saving Models and Motions

• You can load model files and motion files in the GUI using Drag and Drop. 
• You can Open Recent Files from the File menu. 
• We've added commands to Close All and Save All models.
• Read more about each of these in Opening, Closing, and Saving Models

Working with the OpenSim Workflow Tools

• We've added context sensitive Help Buttons in each of the tools. Click on the "Help" button to go directly to the documentation for the tool you are using.
• When you run the Residual Reduction Algorithm, you will see an RRA Results Summary in the Messages Window, so you no longer have to sort through RRA's long output list.
• We've added buttons to Save Settings and Load Settings at the bottom of each of the tools, making this functionality more accessible so you remember to save your settings files.
• Defaults in tool settings are no longer propagated when you save settings files, leading to less clutter and smaller files.

Creating Plots

• You can edit figure title and curve names via double click from the curve list in the plotter
• We've changed the default figure title to "Figure 1" for the first figure you create, "Figure 2" for the next, etc. This gives you a more professional-looking plot without having to make any edits to the default output. 
• Read the chapter on Plotting to learn more. 

Additional GUI Updates

• You can find the installer version available from the GUI Help -> About window. This allows you to more easily check for compatibility when using Plugins. (See Creating Plugins for more information about OpenSim plugins.) 
• You can Undock and Redock Windows in the GUI. 

Visualizing Models, Motions and More in the GUI

• We've made it easier to associate and sync force and marker data with loaded motions. Read more in Associating Data with a Motion.
• We've also added the ability to visualize the results from analyses, like Joint Reactions Analysis and Induced Acceleration Analysis.
  
  • The new features for Associating Data with a Motion allow you to show forces in different references frames.
  • You can change the scale and color of the visualized vectors, such as ground reaction forces or joint forces.
  • You can show resultants or just components of interest.
  • You have the option to save your setting for later re-use. These settings are in the same format as ExternalLoads, so you can use them interchangeably. 
• You can rotate models incrementally in the viewer with j-k hot keys. Read more in Navigating the Visualizer Window.
• We've implemented smarter bounding box creation so models appear in near full size in the viewer. When new models are generated or loaded, there is less offset between models. 
• You can change marker set color using the Property Editor and Outputs List.
• We've added an OpenSim logo as a small watermark in the viewer and movies.

New Muscle Models

We have made some big improvements to the existing OpenSim muscle models and added new muscle models. Changes are summarized briefly below. Watch Matt Millard's Webinar about the new muscle models to learn more. 

• We've improved the Thelen2003 muscle model, updating it to better match the original 2003 paper and improving its numerical accuracy.
• OpenSim 3.0 also includes several new muscles (MillardEquilibrium and MillardAcceleration). 
• We've revamped the base Muscle class to allow consistent access to key parameters and values (e.g. fiber velocity).
• We've added a new interface to easily modify the force-length and force-velocity curves of a model (in the API).
• To accompany these changes, we've expanded muscle testing and benchmarking to ensure that a muscle model performs correctly.
• Users will now see errors and warnings for non-physiological values (e.g. negative fiber velocity, negative muscle lengths) and other undesired behavior.
• Muscle analysis now has better error handling and modularity. 
  
  • The analysis of a model with multiple muscles will still complete even if some of the muscles in the model fail to equilibrate or produce other errors. 
  • Values are reported up to and after the time of failure, to enable better troubleshooting. 
  • Results storage at the API level was improved, so that space for results is only allocated as needed. 

New Probe Component for Making Virtual Measurements

• Probes are a new model components that perform measurements on an OpenSim model during a simulation. 
• These measurements can then be outputted to an external file using a ProbeReporter analysis.
• Four Probes are included with the OpenSim 3.0 release, including probes to output actuator force, actuator power, joint internal power, and system energy. You can add any of these existing probes to your OpenSim model. 
• Developers and API users can create new Probes and combine them with existing Probes to achieve a wide range of functionality.
• Read more in the section on Probes.

API Improvements 

• The new ModelComponent interface enables users to more easily add custom model components.
• We've added a Visualizer, to visualize OpenSim models and their simulations using the API  and thus accessible to user programs.
• We streamlined the property handling interface to reduce error incidence and the length and complexity of the code required to add properties.
• OpenSim 3.0 uses Simbody 3.0 as its underlying dynamics engine for improved performance and new features. Read more in the Simbody 3.0 upgrade notes.
• We updated the Coordinate class to the new property interface, improved its documentation and memory management, and added the property is_free_to_satisfy_constraints to allow dependent coordinates to assume any value necessary to satisfy constraints during the assembly of a model.
• We revamped the Controller class by converting to new properties, and performing other clean up and interface improvement
• The API now includes more convenient states reporting.
• We added setDescription, setAuthors, setReferences methods to Object to enable you to describe your component and identify yourself and your sources, so that users of the components you create can credit your work.
• You can access the Doxygen documentation from the OpenSim GUI.
• We streamlined the build process by refining the CMakeLists, adding better documentation, distributing the source code via a zip file, eliminating Xerces, and fixing linux build bugs.
• Read more about the OpenSim API and new class structure in the OpenSim API Doxygen.

License Updates for OpenSim

OpenSim 3.0 includes updated licenses for the OpenSim application and the API. Read the License for OpenSim 4.0 and Later.

• The OpenSim application now allows commercial use, provided you still acknowledge your use of OpenSim
• The OpenSim API is now fully open source, following the Apache 2.0 License. We request that you acknowledge your use of the OpenSim API.
• The model files distributed with OpenSim have custom licenses, with most using Creative Commons (CCBY 3.0). Refer to each model for more details.
• Users developing new models, plugins, simulations, etc. retain the right to define their own license. 

Documentation and Examples

• We are now using wiki-based documentation for all of our documentation (user guide, developer guide, examples, tutorials, etc.). This documentation is hierarchical and searchable, and makes it easy to constantly add new information and examples. The GUI now links to this online documentation (or a local copy if you're offline). Some key features of our online documentation include:
  
  • An updated User's Guide and Developer's Guide for OpenSim 3.0
  • A central Examples and Tutorials page
  • A Modeling and Simulation Best Practices section
  • A Musculoskeletal Models library, with expanded documentation
  • A section with Teaching Materials
  • Find out how you can help improve the OpenSim documentation in our How to Contribute section
• We've added many examples for using the new Scripting functionality in Matlab and the GUI
• Our API examples have also been improved and expanded
• There is a new plugin example showing you how to create a "BodyDrag" force.
• We improved the example for creating a custom muscle with fatigue that utilizes the new Muscle interface
  
• We've streamlined the API example build process, to help you get started with these examples more quickly.
• See the Developer's Guide for more information.

Bug Fixes

• We corrected an IK bug discovered in the GUI. When specifying IK coordinate tasks, the GUI was using the current value of a model's coordinate when the "value_type" was set to  default_value. It has been corrected to now track the coordinate's default value (NOT its current value).