ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Words often fails to express one’s feeling toward others, still I express my sincere gratitude
to Mr. A.V. Doshi (Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SVNIT,
Surat) for his valuable guidance, motivations and extreme cooperation to complete my seminar
work successfully.

I would also like to thank all the teaching and non-teaching staff for cooperating us in
completing this seminar.

In addition, I would also like to thank the Mechanical Engineering Department for
including seminar in the curriculum.

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ABSTRACT

Designers design a product and the manufacturers manufacture the product according to the
design and other specifications. Suppose, after a certain period of time the design gets lost and
a modified version of that product has to be manufactured. Thus arrived the concept of Reverse
Engineering. Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing a subject system to identify the
system’s components and their interrelationships and create representations of the system in
another form or at a higher level of abstraction.

The concept of Reverse Engineering has found its application in Manufacturing, Chemical,
Software and Film Industries. It is also useful in the medical field. A basic idea of reverse
engineering has been dealt in this seminar report.

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 Contents
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii
Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................................... iv
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Difference between Reverse Engineering and Forward Engineering ................................................ 2
Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Why reverse engineering? ...................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 4 ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
The Rise of Reverse Engineering ........................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Reverse Engineering Procedure ............................................................................................................ 6
Digitizing or collecting data from physical part: ............................................................................. 6
Manipulation of the collected data to obtain a CAD model: ........................................................... 8
Generation of functional parts from the CAD model: ..................................................................... 9
Scan Based Reverse Engineering ..................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 6 ................................................................................................................................................... 11
A Case Study: Reverse Engineering a Computer Mouse Cover....................................................... 11
Chapter 7 ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Advantages of Reverse Engineering .................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 8 ................................................................................................................................................... 13
Applications of Reverse Engineering .................................................................................................. 13
Manufacturing Engineering: ........................................................................................................... 13
Software Engineering: ...................................................................................................................... 13
Chemical Engineering: ..................................................................................................................... 13
Film- Entertainment Industry: ........................................................................................................ 13
Medical Field: .................................................................................................................................... 13
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 14
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 15

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 List of Figures

Fig.1 Diff. in Froward and Reverse Engineering

Fig.2 Surface of a 3-D model

Fig.3 Procedure of Reverse Engineering

Fig.4 Parts of a CMM

Fig.5 Co-ordinate Measuring Machine

Fig.6 Digitizer

Fig.7 Reverse Engineering an Electric Iron

Fig.8 Handheld Scanner

Fig.9 Reverse Engineering of a Mouse

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 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing a subject system to identify the system’s
components and their interrelationships and create representations of the system in another
form or at a higher level of abstraction. The purpose of reverse engineering is to understand
the properties of a system in order to facilitate enhancement, correction or redesign for a better
product.

A product which has been made by a manufacturer is analyzed, its mechanical properties and
geometry are measured to get its design in a CAD software and a model from it. This model
may be used to manufacture a product which is better than the older one.

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 Chapter 2

Difference between Reverse Engineering and Forward

Engineering

Engineering is the profession involved in designing, manufacturing, and maintaining products,

systems, and structures. The whole engineering process can be broadly classified in two groups;
forward engineering and reverse engineering.
Forward engineering is the traditional process of moving form high-level abstractions and logical
designs to the physical implementation of a system.
The process of duplicating an existing component, subassembly or product, without the aid of
drawings, documentation or computer model is known as reverse engineering.

Fig 1. Diff. in Froward and Reverse

Engineering

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 REVERSE ENGINEERING FORWARD ENGINEERING
Given a product, deduce tentative Given requirements, develop a product.
requirements.

Less certain. An implementation can yield More certain. The developer has requirements
different requirements, depending on the and must deliver a product that implements
reverse engineer’s interpretation. them.

Prescriptive. Designers and manufacturers are

Adaptive. The reverse engineer must find out told how to work.
what the manufacturer actually did.

Less mature. Skilled staff sparse. More mature. Skilled staff readily available.
Can be performed 10 to 100 times faster than Time consuming (months to years of work).
forward engineering.(days to weeks of work).

The model can be imperfect. Salvaging partial The model must be correct and complete or the
information is still useful. product will fail.

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 Chapter 3

Why reverse engineering?

 The original manufacturer of a product no longer produces a product.
 There is inadequate documentation of the original design.
 The original manufacturer no longer exists, but a customer needs the product.
 The original design documentation has been lost or never existed.
 Some bad features of a product need to be designed out. For example, excessive wear might
indicate where a product should be improved.
 To strengthen the good features of a product based on long-term usage of the product.
 To analyze the good and bad features of competitors' product.
 To explore new avenues to improve product performance and features.
 To gain competitive benchmarking methods to understand competitor's products and
develop better products.
 The original CAD model is not sufficient to support modifications or current
manufacturing methods.
 To update obsolete materials or antiquated manufacturing processes with more current,
less-expensive technologies.

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 Chapter 4

The Rise of Reverse Engineering

Over the past two decades, the job of design engineers has been radically changed with the
transformation of finite element analysis software from mainframe to desktop computer.

With the easy availability of computer-aided design packages, reverse engineering technology has
become a practical tool to create a three-dimensional virtual model of an existing physical part.
That, in turn, has made the use of 3-D CAD, computer-aided manufacturing, or other computer-
aided engineering applications easier.

One reason design engineers are increasingly using it is that, it’s hardware and software have
become more affordable, helping engineering companies, especially the little guys, to speed up
development and cut production costs. Furthermore, its software can be tightly integrated with the
computer-aided design programs. At the same time, the costs of scanners and other hardware used
to input measurements have been dropping, and the hardware is becoming smaller and easier to
use, according to the hardware makers.

Fig.2 Surface of a 3-D model

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 Chapter 5

Reverse Engineering Procedure

The reverse-engineering process needs hardware and software that work together. The hardware
is used to measure an object, and the software reconstructs it as a 3-D model. The physical object
can be measured using 3-D scanning technologies like a coordinate measuring machine, laser
scanner, structured light digitizer, or computed tomography. Broad steps of reverse engineering
are:

Digitizing or collecting data from physical part:

One of the reverse engineering methods is construction of a CAD model of the physical parts
whose drawing is not available. This is done by digitizing an existing prototype which is mainly
creating a computer model and then using it to manufacture the component. The objective of this
method is to generate a 3D mapping of the product in form of a CAD file. This involves the
acquisition of the product surface data by either contact or non-contact methods in form of X,Y
and Z coordinates of large number of points on the product surface. The methods of obtaining the
product surface data can be divided into two broad categories; Contact method and Non-contact
method. The contact method requires contact between the component surface and a measuring tool
that is usually a probe or a stylus. The contact discretization method uses Co-ordinate Measuring
Machine (CMM) or electromagnetic digitizers to get the co-ordinates of the desired points on the
surface. The non-contact discretization technique uses white light or laser scanners to scan the 3D

Physical model

3D scanner

Point cloud data

Surface Model

CAD readiness, Accuracy, Smoothness

CAD model

Fig 3. Procedure of Reverse Engineering

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object form which the CAD model is generated. The choice of discretization method is based on
the speed and performance during digitization and avoidance of damage to the product.

A CMM is a 3-dimensional measuring device that uses a

contact probe to detect the surface of the object. The linear
distances moved along the 3 axes are recorded, thus
providing the X, Y and Z co-ordinates of the point. The
part to be discretized is placed on the measuring table, and
the co-ordinates of a number of points on the surface of the
object are then read. These points are input into a
'geometry data' file, which can be transferred to a CAD
system to generate the model of the part. In this way the
shape of the object is captured in the form of a CAD
drawing that can be manipulated and modified as needed.
Fig 4. Parts of a CMM

Fig.5 Co-ordinate Measuring

Machine
In electronic digitizers, the product to be digitized is placed on a table which encloses electronic
equipment and a magnetic field source. It creates a magnetic field in the volume of a space above
table. A hand held stylus is used to trace the surface of the part. Tis stylus houses a magnetic field
sensor that, in conjunction with the electronic unit, detects the position and orientation of the stylus.
The data can be transferred to a computer through a serial port.

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In sonic digitizers, sound waves are used to calculate the position of a point relative to a
reference point. In this technique, the object is placed in front of a vertical rectangular board on
the corners of which are mounted four microphone sensors. A free hand held stylus is used to
trace the contours of the object. When a foot or a hand switch is pressed, the stylus emits an
ultrasonic impulse, and, simultaneously four clocks are activated. When the impulse is detected
by a microphone, the corresponding clock is stopped and the times taken to reach each of the
microphones recorded. These time recordings, called slant ranges, are processed by a computer
to calculate the x, y and z coordinates of the point.

Fig.6 Digitizer

Manipulation of the collected data to obtain a CAD model:

After obtaining the product surface data as a sea of points in space, the next important step is the
fitting of geometry to this point data. Various methods were developed for the fitting of surfaces
to the point data. The surface can be mathematically described as either algebraic or parametric
surfaces. Algebraic surfaces are represented by a polynomial equation of the type f(x, y, z) = 0,
and usually represent infinite surfaces. Parametric surfaces on the other hand, are finite surfaces
defined by certain basic functions and control points e.g. Beizer surfaces, NURBS surfaces.
Surface fitting techniques can be broadly classified in to two categories; interpolation techniques
and approximation techniques. In interpolation technique, the surface to be fitted passes through
all the data points and is normally used when the data points are accurately measured without any
errors. In approximation technique, the surface need not to pass through any of the data points, but
represents a generalized average or a best fit to the data points.
This is usually used when there are a large number of data points through which the surface has to
be fitted, or when there errors in the measurement are to be averaged out.

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Generation of functional parts from the CAD model:
Once the geometric model is obtained, it can be used as the basis for a variety of operations such
as automated process planning, automated manufacturing, automated dimensional inspection and
automated tolerance analysis. In automated manufacturing, these geometric models can be used to
generate the tool motion commands which can be made execute on any of the standard CNC
machines or input CAD model for rapid prototyping processes. These applications require feature
extraction from the geometric model, followed by a process plan for the object, which involves
definition of various manufacturing sequences required to manufacture the object.

Fig.7 Reverse Engineering an Electric Iron

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Scan Based Reverse Engineering

 Scan-based reverse engineering uses a 3D scanner to capture surface data from a physical
object and import it into a digital CAD file

 Surface features and overall object dimensions are highly-accurate. Once complete,
reverse engineered scans can be used to augment or alter the original design using CAD
software.

 Generally, reverse engineering is used when no original CAD file exists

 Scan-based reverse engineering is most effective when the following is true:

 Part is complex and difficult to physically measure accurately
 Part design is needed for product development and prototyping purposes
 Part design is needed for manufacturing processes

Use of a handheld scanner for scanning the surface of engraved Bronze Age tablets has been shown
in the image.

Fig.8 Handheld Scanner

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 Chapter 6

A Case Study: Reverse Engineering a Computer Mouse

Cover
First a point cloud data of the mouse is obtained using CMM, electronic or sonic digitizer, etc.
This data is then reduced using a concept of digital image technology. The feature points are then
restore and an Intermediate Point Based Curve Model (IPCM) is constructed. The IPCM is then
used to make the part.

Point Data Reduced Point Data

Point Cloud Data after Restoring Constructed IPCM

Feature Points

Sliced IPCM with Uniform

Fabricated Part
Thickness

Fig.9 Reverse Engineering of a Mouse

Cover

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 Chapter 7

Advantages of Reverse Engineering

• RE typically starts with measuring an existing object, so that a solid model can be deduced
in order to make use of the advantages of CAD/CAM/CAE technologies.

• CAD models are used for manufacturing or rapid prototyping applications.

• Hence we can work on a product without having prior knowledge of the technology
involved.

Reverse engineering has the following advantages:

 Cost saving for developing new products.

 Lesser maintenance costs
 Quality improvement
 Competitive advantages

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 Chapter 8

Applications of Reverse Engineering

Manufacturing Engineering:

1. To create a 3D virtual model of an existing part for use in 3D CAD, CAM, CAE or the
other software.
2. To make a digital 3D record of own products.
3. To assess competitor’s products.
4. To analyze the working of a product.
5. To identify potential patent infringement etc.

Software Engineering:

1. To extract design & implementation information

2. To detect and neutralize viruses and malware

Chemical Engineering:

1. To determine chemical composition.

2. To substitute or improve recipes to stimulate or improve the products performance.

Film- Entertainment Industry:

 Animated objects are imparted motion using reverse engineered human skeletons.

Medical Field:

1. Applications in orthopedic, dental & reconstructive surgery.

2. Imaging, modelling and replication of a patient’s bone structure.
3. Models can be viewed & physically handled before surgery, benefiting in evaluation of the
procedure& implant it in difficult cases.
4. Less risk to the patient and reduced cost through saving in theatre time.

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 CONCLUSION

We have seen the importance of the concept of reverse engineering and how useful it is in various
industries. Reverse engineering has many advantages and is necessary for various applications. It
is a concept which many engineers don’t know but is widely applicable. In the manufacturing
industry, Reverse engineering encourages the use of 3D modelling software. This model is used
for machining the product using CAM. This increases the efficiency and accuracy of the work. It
reduces the labour and lead time required making the work cheaper.

Hence, the concept of reverse engineering is very important and every engineer should have
knowledge about it.

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 REFERENCES

1. “Improved intermediate point curve model for integrating reverse engineering and rapid
prototyping” by V. K. Kumbhar, P. M. Pandey & P. V. M. Rao
2. “Reverse Engineering Applications in Manufacturing Industries: an Overview” by Nikki
Rathore and P.K. Jain
3. “http://www.slideshare.net/lhoffmann/spotlight-on-reverse-engineering-63190052 “ by
Lynn Hoffmann
4. “http://nptel.ac.in/courses/112102103/15” course on Computer Aided Design and
Manufacturing II
5. Ananya upadhyay slideshare

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