REVERSE ENGINEERING OF GEOMETRIC-MODELS - AN INTRODUCTION

In many areas of industry, it is desirable to create geometric models of existing objects for which no such model is available. This paper r eviews the process of reverse engineering of shapes. After identifying the purpose of reverse engineering and the main application areas, th e most important algorithmic steps are outlined and various reconstruc tion strategies are presented. Pros and cons of various data acquisiti on techniques are described with related problems of boundary represen tation model construction. Specific issues addressed include character ization of geometric models and related surface representations, segme ntation and surface fitting for simple and free-form shapes, multiple view combination and creating consistent and accurate B-rep models. Th e limitations of currently known solutions are also described, and we point out areas in which further work is required before reverse engin eering of shape becomes a practical, widely-available engineering tool . (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.