How 3D Laser Scanning Helps Reverse Engineering

Physical or Structural Reverse Engineering

Structural reverse engineering process involves a thorough examination of product/object to understand its various visible components, and then planning the deconstruction process. This process is continued for every sub-component. All the results are documented to provide a clear understanding of the actual build process.

Instead of building a specific component from scratch; reverse engineering makes use of the existing component, to un-build it to see how it was actually fabricated. This process becomes crucial for components or products with poor or incomplete design documentation and unclear build procedures.

Reverse engineering is far more accurate than rebuilding the same component from scratch, which involves substantial time, cost and effort.

3D Reverse Engineering Process Is The Way To Go - But, Why?

The issue with physical / structural reverse engineering is that every component or product may not be disassembled with ease, and at most times the shape of the component may not allow us to take an exact measurement. There can be scenarios where different sub-components are interlinked with each other and form a compound component; which can't be measured individually. Moreover, the deconstruction may not be accurate in such cases.

So this mandates the need to keep the component or product intact, and find a way to measure its high-density geometry, curvature and other difficult areas to measure. This is exactly where 3D reverse engineering can help.

How Does 3D Laser Scanning Make Things Easier

A 3D laser scanner with it precise point capture technique acquires all the surface points and extrapolates the component's precise shapes and measurements through the software. Using these 3D measurements and images you can deconstruct the whole component and even make minor changes and modifications to your design to make the component design better and more efficient.

An object to be constructed is measured using 3D scanning techniques, and reconstructed as a 3D model as a part of 3D scanning in reverse engineering. Some of the common techniques for 3d inspection or 3D scanning are laser scanners, industrial CT scanners, CMMs and structured light digitizers. Advanced 3D laser scanning is a popular technique as it enables clear and sharp dimensions of otherwise hard to measure objects.

Benefits of 3D Laser Scanning in Reverse Engineering

Following are the advantages of 3D laser scanning services that we offer in reverse engineering applications:

• Minimizes the need for manual deconstruction
• Removes the hardship of measuring inconsistently shaped or hard to measure components
• Gives precise diagrams and measurements
• Makes the process of reverse engineering faster and simpler
• Allows changes to design
• Allows to check if the changed or modified design would work or not
• Minimizes reverse engineering time

Outsource Close and Long 3D Laser Scanning Services to O2I

O2I's 3D scanning services or 3D scanning reverse engineering services provide you the flexibility to precisely measure smaller components from close surface contact scanners, or laser scan larger components like automobiles and buildings using long range scanners. Our experienced team of engineers and high technology 3D laser scanners make the reverse engineering process faster and effortless for our clients.

Outsource your 3D scanning requirements to us and simplify reverse engineering process.