A SYSTEM FOR REVERSE ENGINEERING OF PRISMATIC PARTS USING ORTHOGRAPHIC IMAGES

Reverse engineering is the process of creating a CAD model and a manuf acturing database for an existing part or a prototype. This process is necessary in redesigning existing parts and for automated inspection. In this research, a unique system has been developed which creates 3D wireframe models for prismatic parts using four orthographic images c aptured by a machine vision system. Two cameras are used where one cam era captures the top view of the object while the other camera capture s the four side views by rotating the object in steps of 90 degrees. T he images are processed and orthographic views are created. A 3D wiref rame model of the object is then created by stereo matching feature po ints in various orthographic views. This paper describes the developed feature extraction procedure, camera calibration method and the match ing technique. Sample results are also given.