When no other data exists, or existing data is limited in quality or content,
reverse engineering might be the only reasonable choice. There are many
different methods to perform reverse engineering. For many items, the
easiest method is to re-enter the data at a CAD/CAM workstation. Often, there
is enough information in the old data to accomplish this easily.
However, for complex parts, or complex surfaces, re-entering data is often
not practical. What is needed is a state-of-the-market method to capture
surface geometry. This is where the laser acquisition
process provides perfect "capture" of a part's physical features.
By integrating low-power lasers with computers and positioners, it is possible to precisely measure and electronically store the topology of every visible surface. Nothing is touched! The laser is mounted on a portable coordinate measuring machine. This provides real-world positioning data, up to the accuracy of the positioner's encoders. This is at least 0.001 inch. Higher accuracies are possible with more expensive equipment, but the process remains the same.
The ranging laser's data output is processed with industry-standard 3D modeling software. This process offers a precise non-destructive method to electronically record a part's topography, or surface contours.
A part is physically partitioned into unique regions and scanned from multiple angles, thereby capturing the maximum amount of design detail. The acquired electronic information is a cloud of points that represent the topography of every surface. Finally each section is electronically "knitted" together to recreate the entire part. Most importantly, all electronic data acquisition is performed using low-power lasers without moving, touching, or otherwise disturbing any item.