The OSL is an open-source platform that provides researchers with a foundation to initiate studies in the field of active prosthetics — i.e., prosthetic devices with integrated electric actuators — with minimal initial effort.

Conventional passive prostheses are unable to supply energy, which in healthy individuals is provided by muscles during everyday movements. As a result, users generally have to expend more energy and are at a higher risk of falling. Active prostheses can compensate for this deficit using motors, thereby replacing the missing muscle forces.