Reverse Engineering of Mechanical Devices Libin K Babu & Karthik S

S6, Department of Mechanical Engineering Mohandas College of Engineering and Technology

Abstract
Whether it's rebuilding a car engine or diagramming a sentence, people can learn about many things simply by taking them apart and putting them back together again. That, in a nutshell, is the concept behind reverse-engineeringbreaking something down in order to understand it, build a copy or improve it. As computer-aided design has become more popular, reverse engineering has become a viable method to create a 3D virtual model of an existing physical part for use in 3D CAD [computer-aided design], CAM, CAE and other software. The reverse-engineering process involves measuring an object and then reconstructing it as a 3D model With the ever-increasing popularity of CAD, reverse engineering has proven to be a blessing for creation of 3D virtual model of the on hand physical part to be used in 3D CAE, CAM, CAD and many other soft wares. The measuring of physical object can be done by making use of #D scanning technologies such as computed tomography, structured light digitizers, laser scanners, and CMMs. The data that is measured usually gets represented as point cloud. It is devoid of topological information. Thats why, the processing and modelling takes place into usable format like a triangular faced mesh, CAD model, or a collection of surfaces of NURBS. Applications such as Polyworks, Image ware, Geomagic, or Rapidform are used for processing the point clouds into the formats that can be used in applications like 3D CAE, CAM, CAD or visualization. Introduction FORWARD ENGINEERING V/S REVERSE The term "reverse engineering" includes any ENGINEERING ; activity you do to determine how a product works, or to learn the ideas and technology that The most traditional method of the development were originally used to develop the product. of a technology is referred to as "forward Reverse engineering is a systematic approach for engineering." In the construction of a analyzing the design of existing devices or technology, manufacturers develop a product by systems. To be more precise, reverse engineering implementing engineering concepts and (RE) is the process of discovering the abstractions. By contrast, reverse engineering technological principles of a device, object or begins with final product, and works backward system through analysis of its structure, function to recreate the engineering concepts by analyzing and operation. It often involves taking something the design of the system and the (e.g., a mechanical device, electronic component, interrelationships of its components. or software program) apart and analyzing its workings in detail to be used in maintenance, or REASONS FOR RE : to try to make a new device or program that does Lost documentation: Reverse the same thing without copying anything from engineering often is done because the the original documentation of a particular device has been lost (or was never written), TYPES OF RE : and the person who built it is no longer available. Integrated circuits often seem Black Box RE : In "black box" to have been designed on obsolete, reverse engineering, systems are proprietary systems, which means that observed without examining internal the only way to incorporate the structure functionality into new technology is to reverse-engineer the existing chip and White Box RE : Here, the internal then re-design it. parts of the object that is being Product analysis. To examine how a reverse engineered is examined product works, what components it carefully. consists of, estimate costs, and identify potential patent infringement. Creation of unlicensed/unapproved duplicates.

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Academic/learning purposes. Curiosity Competitive technical intelligence (understand what your competitor is actually doing versus what they say they are doing)

REVERSE ENGINEERING OF MECHANICAL DEVICES : RE of mechanical devices mainly involves measuring an object and then reconstructing it as a 3D model. It is also used to analyze how a product works, what it does, and what components it consists of, estimate costs, and identify potential patent infringement, etc. REVERSE ENGINEERING PROCESS As computer-aided design has become more popular, reverse engineering has become a viable method to create a 3D virtual model of an existing physical part for use in 3D CAD, CAM, CAE and other software. The reverseengineering process involves measuring an object and then reconstructing it as a 3D model. The physical object can be measured using 3D scanning technologies like CMMs, laser scanners, structured light digitizers or computed tomography. The measured data alone, usually represented as a point cloud, lacks topological information and is therefore often processed and modeled into a more usable format such as a triangular-faced mesh, a set of NURBS surfaces or a CAD model. There are two parts to any reverse engineering application: scanning and data manipulation. Scanning, also called digitizing, is the process of gathering the requisite data from an object. Many different technologies are used to collect three dimensional data. They range from mechanical and very slow, to radiation-based and highlyautomated. Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages, and their applications and specifications overlap. What eventually comes out of each of these data collection devices, however, is a description of the physical object in three-dimensional space called a point cloud. Point cloud data typically define numerous points on the surface of the object in terms of x, y, and z coordinates. At each x, y, z coordinate in the data where there is a point, there is a surface

coordinate of the original object. However, some scanners, such as those based on X-rays, can see inside an object. In that case, the point cloud also defines interior locations of the object, and may also describe its density. There is usually far too much data in the point cloud collected from the scanner or digitizer, and some of it may be unwanted noise. Without further processing, the data isnt in a form that can be used by downstream applications such as CAD/CAM software or in rapid prototyping. Reverse engineering software is used to edit the point cloud data, establish the interconnectedness of the points in the cloud, and translate it into useful formats such as surface models or STL files. It also allows several different scans of an object to be melded together so that the data describing the object can be defined completely from all sides and directions. Usually, the shortest part of any RE task is scanning or data collection. While there are exceptions, scanning might only require a few seconds or a few minutes. On the other hand, manipulating the data can be quite timeconsuming and labor-intensive. It may even require days to complete this part of the job. The situation is analogous to scanning twodimensional printed or photographic materials. It doesnt usually take very long to scan a picture or a diagram - but getting that picture into a presentable form can be quite a lot of work, indeed.

COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE (CMM) :

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A 'coordinate measuring machine' (CMM) is a device for measuring the physical geometrical characteristics of an object. This machine may be manually controlled by an operator or it may be computer controlled. Measurements are defined by a probe attached to the third moving axis of this machine. Probes may be mechanical, optical, laser, or white light, among others. The typical CMM is composed of three axes, an X, Y and Z. These axes are orthogonal to each other in a typical three dimensional coordinate system. Each axis has a scale system that indicates the location of that axis. The machine will read the input from the probe, as directed by the operator or programmer. The machine then uses the X,Y,Z coordinates of each of these points to determine size and position. A coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is also a device used in manufacturing and assembly processes to test a part or assembly against the design intent. By precisely recording the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the target, points are generated which can then be analyzed via regression algorithms for the construction of features. These points are collected by using a probe that is positioned manually by an operator or automatically via Direct Computer Control (DCC). COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN (CAD) : Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is the use of computer technology to aid in the design and particularly the drafting (technical drawing and engineering drawing) of a part or product, including entire buildings. It is both a visual (or drawing) and symbol-based method of communication whose conventions are particular to a specific technical field. CAD is used in the design of tools and machinery and in the drafting and design of all types of buildings, from small residential types (houses) to the largest commercial and industrial structures (hospitals and factories). CAD is mainly used for detailed engineering of 3D models and/or 2D drawings of physical components, but it is also used throughout the engineering process from conceptual design and layout of products, through strength and dynamic analysis of assemblies to definition of manufacturing methods of components.

CAD has become an especially important technology within the scope of computer-aided technologies, with benefits such as lower product development costs and a greatly shortened design cycle. CAD enables designers to lay out and develop work on screen, print it out and save it for future editing, saving time on their drawings. NURBS SURFACES : Non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) is a mathematical model commonly used in computer graphics for generating and representing curves and surfaces. NURBS are nearly ubiquitous for computer-aided design (CAD), manufacturing (CAM), and engineering (CAE) and are part of numerous industry wide used standards, such as IGES, STEP, ACIS, and PHIGS. NURBS tools are also found in various 3D modeling and animation software packages, such as formZ, Maya and Rhino3D. COMPUTER AIDED MANUFACTURING (CAM) : Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is the use of computer-based software tools that assist engineers and machinists in manufacturing or prototyping product components. CAM is a programming tool that makes it possible to manufacture physical models using computeraided design (CAD) programs. CAM creates real life versions of components designed within a software package. CAM was first used in 1971 for car body design and tooling. Traditionally, CAM has been considered as a numerical control (NC) programming tool wherein three-dimensional (3D) models of components generated in CAD software are used to generate CNC code to drive numerically controlled machine tools. Although this remains the most common CAM function, CAM functions have expanded to integrate CAM more fully with CAD/CAE PLM solutions. As with other Computer-Aided technologies, CAM does not eliminate the need for skilled professionals such as Manufacturing Engineers and NC Programmers. CAM, in fact, both leverages the value of the most skilled

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manufacturing professionals through advanced productivity tools, while building the skills of new professionals through visualization, simulation and optimization tools. RAPID PROTOTYPING : Rapid prototyping is the automatic construction of physical objects using solid freeform fabrication. The first techniques for rapid prototyping became available in the late 1980s and were used to produce models and prototype parts. Today, they are used for a much wider range of applications and are even used to manufacture production quality parts in relatively small numbers USES OF REVERSE ENGINEERING : Understanding how a product works more comprehensively than by merely observing it. Investigating and correcting errors and limitations in existing programs. Studying the design principles of a product as part of an education in engineering. Transforming obsolete products into useful ones by adapting them to new systems and platforms.

Widely used in mechatronics and robotics Used in dental applications In the medical field, mostly for surgical implants In production sector including automobile industry

REFERENCES : T. Varady, R. R. Martin, J. Cox, Reverse Engineering of Geometric ModelsAn Introduction, Computer Aided Design 29 (4), 255-268, 1997.) E. J. Chikofsky and J. H. Cross, II, Reverse Engineering and Design Recovery: A Taxonomy, IEEE Software, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 13-17, January 1990. Grenda, E. (2006). The Most Important Commercial Rapid Prototyping Technologies at a Glance.

APPLICATIONS OF RE : Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) unable or unwilling to provide replacement parts Prototypes with no models/drawings Worn or broken components for which there is no source of supply For base model geometry to edit and tailor for improved functionality or new application Design of parts and assemblies, tooling and jigs

LIMITATIONS OF RE : RE cannot be applied to all equipments Modifications, dependent on point clouds are limited in certain cases Processes involved are costly

FUTURE OF RE:

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