The open motion planning library (OMPL) is a new library for sampling-based motion planning, which contains implementations of many state-of-the-art planning algorithms. The library is designed in a way that it allows the user to easily solve a variety of complex motion planning problems with minimal input. OMPL facilitates the addition of new motion planning algorithms, and it can be conveniently interfaced with other software components. A simple graphical user interface (GUI) built on top of the library, a number of tutorials, demos, and programming assignments are designed to teach students about sampling-based motion planning. The library is also available for use through Robot Operating System (ROS).