Human skill interface in reverse engineering

Reverse engineering is changing from a tedious manual dimensioning or tracing process to a powerful engineering tool utilizing modern digitizing equipment and CAD-CAM systems. The human interface required to create a reverse engineered model of a part is highly dependent on the part type. Free-form parts lend themselves to highly automated software programs that automatically scan and digitize the coordinates of the part software. In contrast, geometrically defined parts require a high degree of human interface. Extensive research has been developed at the University of Toledo in cooperation with the Edison Industrial Systems Center to develop a reverse engineering system to satisfy design criteria that must be interpreted by an engineer. The system has been applied to a number of industrial areas where reverse engineering can make a significant improvement in processing and quality.