In the world of product design and manufacturing, reverse engineering is one of the most important practices in many businesses. The process can provide you with the tools to scan data of a certain product or a tool, manipulate it according to your production needs, and eventually, reproduce it. This has proved quite useful, mainly because it reduces the number of hours manufacturers need to capture and recreate data from existing products or objects. If you suspect that reverse engineering can be of use to your business, you’ll need to know everything there is about it first. To make an informed decision on whether or not to use reverse engineering in your business, continue reading the guide below.
What Is It Used For?
When it was first devised, reverse engineering was mainly used for espionage. Commercial organizations as well as the military have been hiring reverse engineering experts to know more about their competitors’ or enemies’ products and how they’re exactly used. Nowadays, reverse engineering is more of a learning tool than an espionage weapon. The superb ability to replicate other products without knowing their making is an important feat for developing new, more compatible, and on-demand products. Reverse engineering can also be used for making software the interoperates more efficiently between operating systems or databases. It is also used to learn the undocumented features of commercial products.
3D Scanning and CAD
Although the basic principles of reverse engineering may sound simple enough to us, it is still a complex process that requires a deep understanding of how reverse engineering software programs work, particularly 3D scanners and 3D CAD programs. The reverse engineering experts over at nextgenmetrology.com/ explain that 3D scanning technology works hand in hand with 3D CAD to enable manufacturers and product designers to create digital models of pretty much anything. Once 3D scanning technologies like laser scanners, Industrial CT scanners, or CMMs are employed, the reverse engineer will have raw scanned data with accurate measurements of all the surfaces of the scanned product or object. However, this data (also known as point cloud data) doesn’t display geometric properties, which is why it is translated into a usable format like triangular-faced mesh, a CAD model, or a series of NURBS surfaces. Whatever virtual model you have, you can run that model on a 3D CAD, CAE, or any software to manufacture this product to match the original.
Advantages of Reverse Engineering
Reverse engineering, as we mentioned previously, is one of the best learning tools in the manufacturing industry; it can be used to improve existing products and provide products that match the markets’ demands. 3D scanning tools and CAD technology are also important in speeding the production process and saving on production costs. So, instead of designing a product or building a certain object from scratch, the 3D scanned and redesigned data you have will be much faster to create than your normal product. Reverse engineering technology will also tell you what to expect in terms of production costs for new components, expected returns on your new products, and help you identify potential legal issues relating to patents.
Steps Involved
If you’re planning on using reverse engineering on a new project of yours, you must know the exact steps involved to recreate them in your workspace or workshop. Basically, you’ll have to start with deciding which equipment will be best able to capture the data you need. In case you don’t know where to get scanning equipment, there are several services online that will happily ship them for you. Furthermore, you should start by scanning the original geometrics with your equipment. If you inform the reverse engineering equipment manufacturer of the details of your project, they’ll be able to recommend the best tools to use for it. Once the scanning is complete, you’ll be able to convert the data to geometric proportions or a point model, which you’ll use eventually to do 3D printing.
Choose the Right Equipment
It is really easy to get dazzled by the latest technology and equipment provided by manufacturers. This is no different when it comes to choosing the right equipment for a 3D printing project. Sure, cheaper and simpler options might seem a bit lackluster for you, but the truth is they can still do the job as much as the latest pieces of technology can. So, unless you’re going to buy the best high-end technology there is without considering your options, here’s how to choose your equipment.
3D Scanners
Depending on the accuracy you need for your project and the intended application, you will be able to choose a good 3D scanner. For example, complex designs will require a high level of accuracy that only high-end laser systems can provide; however, these devices can be well above the budget of any organization due to their costly price tag. Instead, you can opt for a more cost-effective solution like the white-light scanning systems, which are capable of creating an STL model that you can use on any reverse engineering software.
Software
Specialized software is a must if you want to start with reverse engineering. Make sure that you purchase an impeccable reverse engineering software that can collect and interpret data collected by your scanners. This software should be able to take a cloud of data points and make connections with high accuracy. It should be user-friendly and easy to operate on your PC or laptop. The end result will be a digital model of the original object that you can then add to the CAD program/s you have and start with the 3D printing process. Of course, you must have a capable person handling this software to minimize human error in the final result.
Operators
In addition to the hardware and software, you will need human operators who are well-versed in engineering technology. Sure, your software programs will do their best while performing and make analyses to eliminate any errors, but a trained technician or a reverse engineering expert is a crucial part of this project, as they will be able to tweak and change your progress so that the end result matches your goals.
Reverse engineering and 3D printing is considered the pinnacle of 3D manufacturing. However, as is the case with pretty much all products, you might be facing some patent or proprietary limitations, which can halt your progress. Therefore, you must make sure that you know your limitations and clear out any issues first before getting started with reverse engineering.