Evaluation and optimisation of errors in the reverse engineering process: a case study

Reverse engineering is used to reproduce a virtual model of any existing complex 3D shape. It is a fast evolving area which has a multitude of applications. It has also become an increasingly vital tool to reduce product development cycles. In conjunction with modern growing areas such as rapid prototyping or rapid tooling, this science is leading towards a rapidity, flexibility and agility discipline. This presentation describes and analyses the successive errors embedded in the Reverse engineering process. Several simple components with specific geometric shapes are reverse engineered and remanufactured. Results show that the successive errors involved in each stage of the Reverse engineering process remain minimal (of the order of 0.5% or less) resulting in an overall maximum uncertainty of less than 1% between the original components and their remanufactured parts. Finally, two surface reconstruction procedures are described and compared with a suggested alternative method. This method enables the construction a CAD model with smooth surfaces without any oscillations and a closer fit to the scans. The final CAD model obtained can then be redesigned for an improved performance prior to a remanufacturing.