Seaweed Inspired, 3D Printed Metal Bottle Opener

I received one of these as a gift an use it often.

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.

When we say anything, we mean anything. Brand Partnerships Manager, Liz Nugent, recently shared a story about a seaweed-inspired, 3D printed-metal bottle opener.

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For Autodesk Designer, Andriy Banadyga, the original inspiration for a 3D printed bottle opener came from this underwater photo of seaweed. Replicating living structures can be quite a challenge without using Digital Tools and Future of Making Things workflows.
The design began life in 3DS Max, with titanium being the original building material. The design was exported from 3DS Max then imported into Fusion 360, where final assembly and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation took place.
For highly technical Aerospace and Automotive designs, titanium is often the only option. But while beautiful, titanium poses challenges, such as cost. Since this bottle opener may or may not be used in space, Autodesk Designer, Michael Sagan, explored a redesign with 3D printed-steel, using Fusion 360 and generative design.	Fusion 360 rendering — Ready for 3D printing in titanium
Starting with a bottle and cap as reference points, Sagan ran dozens of simulations through Autodesk generative design technology with the help of Principal Research Scientist, Andreas Bastian and Design Engineer, Daniele Grandi, experts in materials and generative design from the Office of the CTO.
Additive Manufacturing Expert, Matt Lemay also collaborated with Sagan, using the Fusion 360 model and NetFabb. The model was then prepared for Additive Metal Printing.
The new steel design for the seaweed inspired bottle opener achieved a 2X cost reduction over the titanium design. And it's ready for undersea or low earth orbit missions.

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Thanks, Liz.

Autodesk has always been an automation company, and today more than ever that means helping people make more things, better things, with less; more and better in terms of increasing efficiency, performance, quality, and innovation; less in terms of time, resources, and negative impacts (e.g., social, environmental). Working as a team, we were able to experience this for ourselves. Let's have a beer to celebrate. "Hey, I've got a bottle opener."

Eating our own dog food (i.e., technology) is alive in the lab.