Using Metrology Software to Capture Data for Reverse Engineering

Using Metrology Software To Capture Data for Reverse Engineering

q  This webinar will be available afterwards at www.designworldonline.com & email

q  Q&A at the end of the presentation q  Hashtag for this webinar: #DWwebinar

Before We Start

Moderator Presenter

Leslie Langnau Design World

Les Baker FARO

Reverse Engineering with

Inspection Software

Going “Back to the Future”

Agenda

•  Acknowledgements

•  What is Reverse Engineering?

•  A Reverse Engineering Example

•  Brief Demonstration

•  Summary

•  Thanks to Rickie Swain, an Engineer with Pulp Engineered Services at Andritz Iggesund Tools for supplying some of the images for today’s presentation.

Acknowledgments

Audience Poll:

Were/Are you intimated by the myriad choices you are faced with when considering implementation of Reverse Engineering Capabilities?

•  ?gnireenignE esreveR si tahW

•  It is described in Wikipedia as: … the process of extracting knowledge or design information from anything man-made. The process often involves disassembling something (a mechanical device, electronic component, computer program, or biological, chemical, or organic matter) and analyzing its components and workings in detail.

What is Reverse Engineering?

In Measurement terms, we are really just interested in the actual dimensional aspects of the part in question


Sometimes we may not want to carry out an Engineering function using the data we gathered – We just want to understand what we ended up with after the manufacturing process, because the part doesn’t meet print, yet it functions anyway. Without modifying the manufacturing process, we can just use those dimensions as the nominal data to inspect future parts against, so we can be sure they’ll function, instead of modifying the part to meet the print and finding that it doesn’t work anyway.


Reverse Engineering is considered by some to be a comparatively new thing, perhaps spurred by the recent move towards rapid manufacturing. In reality it has been with us as long as people have needed to design, manufacture or copy things, but Computers have certainly changed it over the years and led to major developments in what can be achieved.


Even the newest designs incorporate some legacy components that may pre-date the CAD that is so prevalent these days We document the As-Made condition of those parts or mating assemblies, so we can be sure it will actually integrate as intended - rather than just designing to the ideal dimensions in a print that the part may deviate from anyway, causing costly redesign and rework.


There are situations where damaged, worn or even new parts need to be repaired or optimized, in order to function as efficiently as desired. Those modifications need to be applied and incorporated into an update design so that future parts work right out of the gate.


Sometimes this as-made data isn’t needed so the part can be actually manufactured, but may be used to establish an accurate CAD model for the actual part so that virtual testing, such as Finite Element Analysis can be conducted.


We can see that Reverse Engineering is just another way of applying Measurement Data to manufacturing. It makes sense then that we should be able to use our metrology tools and inspection software to acquire the data and our Design software to incorporate that data.


Audience Poll:

Does your company currently Reverse Engineer?

Reverse Engineering in it’s simplest form could just involve traditional 2D Metrology Tools used to acquire dimensions to modify drawings. Let’s see how it’s been updated to the 21st Century …

A Reverse Engineering Example

Let’s take a look at how Andritz Iggesund use the 3D Data from the Inspection software on their Portable CMM to record as built information from internal and OEM machines, in order to Reverse Engineer superior repairs and replacement parts


This part looks very complicated, but in reality it’s just a collection of geometrical elements: Planes, circles, cones, cylinders etc, plus a few freeform surfaces that are all easily captured with the CMM


Here are some similar geometrical elements captured on the chipper disc from the earlier slide, already imported in to CAD


the actual data acquired by the Arm is used as a template for the CAD Geometry


… and the final CAD model is produced


The initial samples can then be checked against the new CAD model using the Portable CMM and Inspection Software, completely closing the loop.


Both the correctness of the geometry and the freeform surfaces


Andritz Iggesund used their portable CMM as an Inspection tool for product verification Separately, they used CAD to Design their Products Their Reverse Engineering Capability was a happy marriage of two technologies in which they were already competent


Audience Poll:

Would you consider using a “Service Bureau” to keep any productivity gap manageable as you get up to speed with aspects of the implementation?

There are so many CAD plug-ins and standalone software packages and they may or may not have relevance to what you are trying to do. Understanding your requirements using the simplest possible workflow will help you more clearly realize the ebb and flow of advantages and disadvantages that adding extra modules could bring Justification of additional modules to aid efficiency in future, will be easier when based on real experience


I’ll finish up today by showing you a brief demonstration of just how quickly and easily you can acquire and export the measurement features in a format that can be handled by CAD. You’ll also see how the pointcloud from a laser scanner can easily turn those freeform surfaces into a format that your CAD can handle very economically and integrates nicely with existing CAD techniques.

Brief Demonstration

Brief Demonstration

Audience Poll:

Has any of the information presented given you any new perspectives on implementing Reverse Engineering?

•  RE has been around a long time, in many forms and is here to stay

•  RE has many goals and as many techniques and is

constantly evolving •  The possibilities of RE are limited only by your imagination and the

amount of money you want to save –but saving money usually involves spending some too

•  And finally, understand intimately what you do currently, so you can

investigate thoroughly how the technology you are exploring can best complement that

Summary

THANK YOU!

For More Information

Visit www.faro.com or

Call 1-‐‑800-‐‑736-‐‑0234

Questions? Leslie Langnau Design World [email protected] Phone: 216-860-5270 Twitter: @DW_3DPrinting

Les Baker FARO [email protected] Phone: 1-800-736-0234

Thank You q  This webinar will be available at

designworldonline.com & email

q  Tweet with hashtag #DWwebinar

q  Connect with Design World

q  Discuss this on EngineeringExchange.com

Using Metrology Software to Capture Data for Reverse Engineering

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