Experimental Investigation

on Reverse Engineering of a
Typical Freeform Surface
using Portable Laser Arm
Scanner

G. Sreeram Reddy, Manzoor Hussain, J.Jagadesh Kumar,

V.V.Satyanarayana
Introduction
Reverse engineering is an extensive technology that enables creation of
virtual model of a physical part

Applications of RE
Metrology, quality control, design, virtual reality, medical & surgical
applications, and preservation of Cultural Heritage

• A.Salmi, E.Atzeni claimed; Reverse engineering methodology is adequate

to virtually reconstruct the geometry of three-dimensional CAD model of a
casting from its physical equipment (A.Salmi et.al, 2014).

• Laser scanner & CMM are most efficient methods to reverse engineer the
objects in terms of accuracy & cost
• Based on reconstruction of freeform
surfaces of a complex geometry
Materials &
• Component selected is appropriate for Methodology
testing because the slope of the chosen
surface changes Study of Model
continuously
measured in
the Cartesian
coordinates
Acquisition of Raw Point
Clouds
• Digitization of the model was made with
an active non-contact scanning process
using a portable laser scanner (FARO)
• System of points was controlled
automatically by software of equipment
(FARO CAM2 MEASURE)
• Multiple scans are done to acquire point
cloud with complete data of all
geometric features of the object. The
digitized data was further exported in
ASCII (.asc) format file type
Methodology
Merging Scans

When the area chosen is very big and the amount of data is
large, multiple scans can be created for it
Many objects have details on top and/or the bottom that cannot
be captured in a single scan
Merge feature allows scanning an object multiple times from
different angles & merging those scans to make a single point
cloud & a complete 3D model
 Merging Scans
• For merging, external software like Cloud compare can be used which
automatically processes & uses an algorithm to identify common or shared points
in two or more scans
• Algorithm samples data & aligns
two into a single point cloud
depending upon relative
proximity b/w them
• Technically, any number of scans
can be combined but it is
observed that, after three the
process becomes redundant
 Noise Reduction
• Scanner error often called noise is reduced by moving points to
statistically correct locations
• Noise can make sharp edges dull & make smooth curves rough
• When this command is used, result is a smoother, less noisy
arrangement of points
• Performing this process after removing outliers & portions of scan
that are not part of object before using any of sampling options will
give good results
• Either of freeform or prismatic of noise reduction procedures is
selected based on type of object being worked upon
 • Process to reduce the no. of points in scans by
creating an evenly spaced set of points, regardless
of curvature & original density
• This point reduction technique is useful & widely
recommended for objects with both flat & curved
Sampling surfaces
 • Technique super-imposes a virtual three-
dimensional grid over selected object
• When sample is taken, point that is closest to
center of each grid is reained

Sampling
 It is advantageous
Wrapping to wrap a point object
because there are many
Process of converting a point
refinements that can be
object to a polygon object performed on a polygon object
that cannot be performed on a
point object
It can deal with
The method works by
unorganized points,
maintaining a list of
points from which the coming from one or
mesh can be grown and multiple scans, and
extending it until all having multiple
possible points connected parts
are connected
 Defects Diagnostics

Diagnosing the defects & repairing is

performed to find & fix various issues
including Intersections, Non-manifold
Edges, Small Components, Small Holes,
Small Tunnels, Spike Edges & Spike
Vertices
 • Smoothing a mesh surface can be
done by minimizing crease angles b/w
individual polygons (triangles),
thereby improving quality of polygon
data
• This process can be used effectively to
Smoothing a reduce noise, such as an overall “tin
Mesh Surface foil” effect, or in any other area that
has sharp spikes
 • It allows reducing no. of triangles in
object’s mesh without compromising
surface detail or color
• Useful when object contains an
excessive no. of points

Simplifying Model
(Reducing Triangles)
 • Process can be used on a selected area
or on entire object by specifying the
target setting, so as to maintain the
%age of existing triangles

Simplifying Model
(Reducing Triangles)
Filling Holes in Model
It can be done to fill specific holes or all holes in model at the same time by hole-
filling technique with following commands

Curvature Fill
Specifies that the new mesh that fills the selected holes must match the curvature of
the surrounding mesh

Tangent Fill
Specifies that the new mesh that fills the selected holes must match the curvature of
the surrounding mesh, but with more tapering than Curvature

Flat Fill
Specifies that the new mesh that fills the selected holes is generally flat.
 • It establishes X, Y, & Z planes on both Test & Reference
objects & re-orients the test object so that its 3 planes
match those of reference object
Alignment • Plane is three points, a perpendicular plane by two more
points & a third plane perpendicular to those two planes is
(3-2-1) shown by one point
• Alignment requires 3 points on first shared plane of both
objects, 2 points on a second shared plane of both objects,
& 1 point on a third shared plane of both objects
Alignment
Deviation/3D Compare

• Deviation/3D Compare operation

generates a three dimensional,
colour-coded mapping of
differences b/w selected objects
• Test object can be a point,
polygon, or a CAD object
 Deviation found from
analysis is following
normal distribution in
consonance with other
conventional process
variation

Conclusions Results generated

Suitable for future
a low error CAD engineering
model of freeform developments using
surfaces computational
simulations
 References
• J.P.Kruth, A.Kerstens(1998), Reverse engineering modelling of free-form surfaces from
point clouds subject to boundary conditions, Journal of Materials Processing Technology
76,120–127.
• A.Durupt, S. Remy and W. Derigent(2008), From a 3D point cloud to a real CAD modelof
mechanical parts, 805–813, London, Springer.
• A.Salmi, E.Atzeni,F.Calignano, P.Minetola and L.Iuliano(2014), Combined reverse
engineering and CAD approach for mould modeling in casting simulation, International
Journal of Cast Metals Research, Vol 27 No4 213.
• Antonio Piratelli-Filho, JoséAlexander Araújo, Antonio C.P.BrasilJúnior(Jun. 2009),
Reverse engineering of hydraulic turbine runners using coordinate measuring arms and
NURBS modeling, Rev. Tecnol., Fortaleza, v.30, n.1, p. 114-114 122.
• Tamss Varady, Ralph R Martin and Jordan Coxt(1997), Research-Reverse engineering of
geometric models-an introduction Computer-Aided Design. Vol. 29, No 4, pp. 255-268.Yu
Zhang(2003), Research into the engineering application of reverse engineering technology,
Journal of Materials Processing Technology139,472–475.
• AntonioPiratelli-Filho, Pedro Henrique Jobim Souza, Rosenda Valdés Arencibia and Nabil
Anwer, Study of Contact and Non-contact Measurement Techniques.(2014),Applied to
Reverse Engineering of Complex Freeform Parts Int. J. Mech. Eng. Autom. Volume 1,
Number 3, pp. 166-175.R.
• J.Urbanic,H.A.ElMaraghy & W.H.ElMaraghy(2008), A reverse engineering methodology for rotary
components from point cloud data, Int J Adv Manuf Technol,37:1146–1167 DOI 10.1007/s00170-007-1062-
4.