Reverse Engineering

2008 Reverse Engineering Roundup

Reverse Engineering is the process of taking an object or system and finding the technical components like Mechanical CAD data in order to learn how the object or system is made, with the end goal of enhancing or reproducing a physical copy.

First the object must be scanned with a digitizer, and then the large amount of data derived from the scan, must then be manipulated to meet the specifications of the new design. There are three types of scanning processes to choose from: feature-based scanning, usually done with a touch probe, laser scanning with a point-cloud and a mix of the two—hybrid scanning. When looking for a digitizer to scan objects, speed, accuracy and the volume are three major points to consider.

At one point reverse engineering was considered a non-reputable form of design. As with most trends in the CAD world, the hardware and software of reverse engineering are becoming easier to work with, quicker to use and less expensive. It’s an exciting time for reverse engineering with new products and quicker scanning processes being continually developed.