Reverse Engineering

The purpose of reverse engineering is to create a virtual part from an existing one. In many cases legacy parts manufactured years ago and no drawings or tooling exist. The client has since moved on 3-D CAD and wishes create a CAD file for the older part. We have several was of producing a new file.

Traditional Surfacing

Best for re-creating design intent. There are always problems with existing parts. They can be slightly deformed, scaled, or with plastic molded parts, heat sinks that need to be removed. All which may need to be fixed before sending final file to the client. It is important to note that using traditional surfacing require close contact with the client to insure proper changes are made. The process can be done in two ways:

Surface file and export it as “dumb” surfaces, usually as an IGES file. There is no history tree or dimensional associativity. Surfaces are generally prismatic but many may be freeform

Parametric Modeling

We work with several independent CAD specialists who work with Pro-E, SolidWorks, Solid Edge and CATIA. They try to make the file as fully parametric as possible from our scan data. Although some surfaces are too freeform and they are usually left in the CAD file as freeform surfaces.

Surface Mapping

The software maps hundreds of small surfaces onto the polygonized point cloud. But before the cloud is mapped, editing to fill holes, smooth out surfaces, and correct for sharp edges are performed. Surface mapping not only works well with amorphic objects but manufactured parts that require precise, unaltered surfaces exactly as scanned. The created surfaces are all gap free and tangent.

 

Completed Projects