MODULE - III

REVERSE ENGINEERING

REVERSE ENGINEERING:
Introduction - Reverse Engineering Leads to New Understanding about Products - Reasons for Reverse
Engineering - Reverse Engineering Process - Step by Step - Case Study.
 Introduction
• Have you ever wondered how a product continues to stay popular in the
marketplace?
• Have you noticed that someone else soon makes the latest clothing style?

• Successful graphic designs, car styles, cell phones, and in fact, all new
products reflect some feature of a similar product.
• Consider Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone, which evolved
through innovation to become the modern cell phone.

• All great engineering achievements involve some form of new design work.
Invention refers to design work that results in something unique or novel.
 Introduction

• Often an invention is based on

some earlier development. For
example, electricity had to be
harnessed before Bell's
telephone could be invented.

• Other inventions such as the

automobile, airplane, radio,
television, and computer
required major break- throughs
in science or technology.
 Introduction
• To legally protect an invention from theft or misuse, individuals and
organizations apply for a patent.

• A period of product innovation usually follows inventions. Product innovation

is a process of improving or modifying an existing product. This important
design process is evident throughout history and is a cornerstone of our
modern industrial economy.

• Companies must constantly improve their products to remain competitive in

the marketplace. They must also design new products to diversify their
product line.

• Gathering information about existing products can help us design a product

that will successfully compete in the marketplace.
 Introduction
• Designers apply reverse engineering when they disassemble a product to
learn more about how it works and how it was made.

• Reverse engineering allows the development of everyday items such as cell

phones. For example, other companies soon replicate a new, thin cell phone,
made possible by newly designed internal parts and the arrangement of those
parts.

• How do you think the competition learned how to make a similar ultrathin cell
phone?
 Introduction
• Many companies apply a reverse engineering process to closely examine and
analyze a product's external and internal features. The knowledge gained from
this process often leads to new or improved product design.

• In 1997, Philippe Kahn was waiting in a maternity ward for his daughter to be
born when he had the idea to send a picture of her to friends and family
through a wireless connection. Kahn made a close examination of his existing
cell phone and digital camera to determine if he could somehow connect the
two. While he sent for parts from a local Radio Shack store, he wrote a
program on his laptop to connect the two devices. After several hours of
wiring and programming the new device, Kahn was able to send a photo of his
new daughter-wirelessly over a cellular connection-to family and friends
around the world. Today, the wide- spread use of camera cell phones allows
firsthand documentation of major events, including weather disasters and
crime.
 Introduction
• This is the first ever cell-phone picture. Taken by Philippe Kahn of his newborn
daughter, on June 11th, 1997.
• You can find the whole story here: [Link]
camera-phone-photo-shot-20-years-ago/ (source)

[Link]
 Introduction
• Reverse engineering: A strategy used to find answers to questions about an
existing product that are later used in the design of another product.
 Topic 1

Reverse Engineering Leads to New

Understanding about Products
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
• "What attracts us to a new product?
• Product function, ease of use, dependability, appearance, and cost are all
concerns of design teams when designing new products.
• Well-designed products are valued by consumers and are profitable to
the manufacturers who make them.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
• Research is an important step in the design process.

• When graphic designers want to design a new greeting card, they may go to a card
store to look at existing cards.

• A civil engineer assigned to design a new bridge may request drawings from a
previously built bridge.

• An electrical engineer designing a new cellular device circuit may disassemble or

benchmark the circuit of an existing device.

• When a mechanical engineer prepares to design a new mechanical device, he/she will
most likely use reverse engineering to discover how a similar product functions or was
produced.
Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
• Understanding how a product functions through reverse engineering is one
reason to research a competitor's product. However, to be competitive in the
marketplace, companies will research the demographics, perspectives, and
preferences of potential consumers.

• Companies must also consider current trends in product style and package
design. Attractive, well-packaged products are more likely to be big sellers.

• The process of reverse engineering is usually applied to consumer products,

and involves taking the object apart to discover the internal components and
their operation.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
• Unlike a traditional engineering design process that begins with a problem and
works toward a solution, reverse engineering begins with an end product and
works toward understanding a product, system, or process and works backward
to gain documentation, and possibly a new idea.

• Reverse engineering is used to analyze a product’s function, mechanical

features, structural integrity, and materials, and to understand the
manufacturing processes used.

• This analysis can lead to design changes that strengthen or enhance the
product’s features or performance.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
Reverse Engineering Decreases Product Waste
• Manufacturers in the die and mold industries have traditionally used reverse
engineering to replace worn or broken parts on old equipment. This gives new
life to a product or machine that is no longer in production. Without reverse
engineering to develop replacement parts, many machines would be scrapped.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
Reverse engineering is also used to improve manufacturing efficiency.
• When drawings for old products are no longer available, or when the existing
drawings are inaccurate, companies disassemble products to create valuable
work documentation and electronic data.
• Designers use manual precision measurement tools, coordinate measuring
machines (CMM), and 3-D laser scanners to collect geometry for input into
computer-aided design (CAD) programs.
• CAD programs are used to generate solid models and new production
drawings.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
Case Study - The Ohio Art Company and Etch A Sketch
• In this case study, you will learn how the Ohio Art Company
used the techniques of continuous improvement to keep
the Etch A Sketch popular over the last fifty years.
• In 1960, the Ohio Art Company first introduced Etch A
Sketch to the marketplace.
• Arthur Granjean invented the original toy in the late 1950s.
• The story goes that one day Arthur, an electrician in Paris,
was installing a switch plate. After peeling off the clear label
affixed to the plate, he used the label to make a note and
noticed that the image came through on the other side. This
was the inspirational moment for Granjean’s L’Ecran
Magique—the magic screen.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
Case Study - The Ohio Art Company and Etch A Sketch
• Following development of his mechanical drawing screen, Arthur took his toy
to the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany.
• The high price tag caused many toy companies to pass on the novel toy, but
the Ohio Art Company invested in the invention and spent a year of research
and development (R&D) to address mechanical and component fit concerns
(U.S. patent #3,760,505).
• The company renamed the toy Etch A Sketch and introduced it to consumers in
1960.
• When the advertisements for the new toy appeared on television, the demand
was so high that the company continued to manufacture Etch A Sketch toys
until noon on Christmas Eve in order for customers in California to receive their
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
Case Study - The Ohio Art Company and
Etch A Sketch
• The Ohio Art Company, as is true for most
companies, uses continuous improvement
methods to maintain and enhance consumer
interest. Today, in addition to the Classic Etch
A Sketch, Ohio Art produces the Pocket Etch
A Sketch and the Travel Etch A Sketch. The
company continues to evolve and expand
the product line with products such as the
Etch A Sketch Freestyle that has a controller
that swivels 360 degrees.
 Reverse Engineering Leads to New
Understanding about Products
• Solid models developed with CAD may
undergo finite element analysis (FEA) such as
stress analysis and mass properties
calculations. Some measurement systems
acquire dimensions that are accurate up to
0.005 mm (0.0002 inch). CAD data can then
be converted to computer numerical control
(CNC) code and sent electronically to
prototyping machines to create detailed
molds for the remanufacture of parts. These
precise, integrated production practices,
generally referred to as computer-aided
 Topic 2

Reverse Engineering and Patents

 Reverse Engineering and Patents
• Reverse engineering is a process industry uses to analyze competitive products.

• Design teams often reverse engineer existing products to develop new

understanding, which may be applied to new or similar products.

However, what protects a company from having its product copied as a

result of reverse engineering?
• Patent law and professional codes of ethics were designed to help protect
inventions; however, there are no guarantees that designs will not be copied.
• If a company holds a patent, which they believe a competitor has violated, it is
their responsibility to sue the competitor for patent infringement.
 Reverse Engineering and Patents
• Eli Whitney, credited with inventing the cotton gin, did not protect his patented
invention from being copied. Although the invention was very successful,
farmers who were unhappy about paying user fees began to produce their own
machines.
Reverse Engineering and Patents
 Reverse Engineering and Patents
• Because others easily duplicated the design of the cotton gin, and because
Whitney failed to defend his patent in court, his company went out of business
in 1797. Companies strive to maintain market advantage through continuous
product improvement.

• Design professionals who belong to professional societies must adhere to a

code of ethics.

• The code deters professionals from violating the rules that are associated with
intellectual property.

• In addition to professional codes, businesses have written policies that promote

ethical employee behavior.
 Reverse Engineering and Patents
• Consider the Code of Ethics of the National Society of Professional Engineers,
"The code does not cite uncovering the understanding of a product as a
violation. Rather, the relevant general standards include these statements:
3) Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner
5) Avoid deceptive acts, and
6) Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically and lawfully ...".

• Clearly, violating a patent raises legal issues and can force a company to take
expensive legal actions to defend patent infringement.

• An ethical violation could lead to a person’s censure by a professional society,

or dismissal by his or her employer.
Reverse Engineering and Patents
 Reverse Engineering and Patents
• Case Study on how a professional code of ethics for engineers might impact
national security?
• How reverse engineering was used in WWII on the Boeing B-29
Superfortress, a four-engine bomber aircraft.
Figure: The Tupolev Tu-4 Soviet bomber, a reverse-engineered
copy of the U.S. Boeing B-29

[Link]

[Link]
 Topic 3

Reverse Engineering: The Big Picture

 Reverse Engineering: The Big Picture
• Reverse engineering consists
of a series of logical steps as
shown in Fig. below.

• The steps are not necessarily

followed in a linear fashion.
Most designers and
engineers usually move back
and forth between steps as
illustrated by the yellow
dashed lines in Fig.
 Reasons for Reverse Engineering
• The reverse engineering process starts when a design team or management team
identifies a need or concern that could be addressed through reverse engineering
inquiry. Typically, designers use reverse engineering for one or more of the
following reasons:
• To research similar products in an effort to discover possible ways to make a
more competitive product
• To test a product or design to determine what is failing or causing a failure
• As part of a company’s continuous product improvement policy
• To reproduce actual manufactured components when original drawings no
longer exist
• To educate design professionals on the topics of function, structure, and
manufacturing methods
• To obtain design data for the design of replacement parts for products no
 Reasons for Reverse Engineering
• A company’s continuous
improvement strategy may dictate
that the purpose of reverse
engineering is to look for ways to
improve function or cut
production costs.
• Following figure shows customer
survey results which reflects on
the factors that influence
purchase.
 Reverse Engineering: Step by Step
• Reverse engineering consists of the following 6 steps
• Step 1: Identify the Purpose
• Step 2: Develop a Hypothesis
• Step 3: Disassembly
• Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Step 5: Prepare the report
• Step 6: Product Redesign
 Step 1: Identify the purpose
• When you are ready to reverse engineer a product, begin by analyzing your
purpose in your engineer’s notebook. What do you want to learn about the
product?
• Think about questions to ask, areas of research, people to contact, and tests to be
completed. It is important that you keep accurate and detailed documentation
throughout the entire reverse engineering process.
• Your engineer’s notebook will provide evidence of your process, thoughts and
findings. Whenever possible, you should add supporting documentation, such as
annotated sketches.
• Ultimately, your notebook will support your findings and may serve as evidence
to support legal proceedings or a patent application.
 Step 1: Identify the purpose
• Case Study: The Etch A Sketch
• The Ohio Art Company must continually search for ways to keep its product
profitable without sacrificing quality. Large discount stores often establish the price
point, or retail price of a product. This is determined by considering the price of
competitive products, what customers are accustomed to paying, and the
psychological effect of the pricing. With the development of our global economy,
these price points have made it difficult for companies to continue manufacturing
products in the United States.

• Due to less expensive labor and material costs in other countries, many companies
have been forced to move manufacturing or assembly to countries such as China.

• The Ohio Art Company continued to manufacture the Etch A Sketch in the United
States until 2001. Although financially costly, the family-owned company chose to
be loyal to its employees, many of whom had been with the company for thirty
years or more. Finally, when the majority of its production workers reached
 Step 2: Develop a Hypothesis
• Because reverse engineering is most appropriately used to determine how
something functions and how the components work together to achieve that
function, the next step in the process is to describe your hypothesis about the
product function.

• A hypothesis is a statement that suggests a possible, unproven answer to a

question. In the Etch A Sketch example, our unknown relates to the mechanism
that controls the drawing stylus, the part that draws the lines on the screen. Is the
stylus driven by gears, a series of levers, or some other device? It may help to
refer to a book on mechanical systems.
Hypothesis:
(1) An assumption based on limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation;
and/or
(2) A proposed explanation for an observation. A hypothesis is an educated guess, which forms
a basis for investigation or analysis.
 Step 2: Develop a Hypothesis
• How do you think the Etch A Sketch works?
• Do you think the stylus (drawing point) is controlled through a pulley
mechanism, or is it gear-driven?
• Using a small amount of testing and observation, you will discover that
turning the knobs controls the vertical and horizontal movements of the
stylus, which scrapes off a substance from the back of the screen.
• So, how do the knobs actually control the stylus?
• If you are Very patient, you can scrape off a small portion of the screen by
drawing a set of lines very close together. This will allow you a glimpse
inside.
• Can you guess the material used to coat the glass when the toy is shaken?
Write down these and other questions you may have and think about
possible answers before moving on to the disassembly stage.
 Step 3: Disassembly
• Once you have documented the purpose of inquiry and hypothesis, you may
carefully disassemble the product to uncover the internal components and
mechanisms. This process is often called teardown.
• When someone in an industrial setting uses tools or enters a material laboratory,
he or she must wear safety gear.
• Safety is taken very seriously in business, industry, and education. General safety
rules include wearing safety glasses, ear protection, and proper protective
clothing.
• It is also common practice to remove all jewelry. If dust or other environmental
contaminants are present, respiratory protection is required.
 Step 3: Disassembly
• Common disassembly tools include:
• Screwdriver set
• Allen wrench set
• Needle nose and regular pliers
• Spring compressor and tweezers
• Ratchets, sockets and adjustable wrenches
• Drill and index
• Utility knife and cutting mat
• Wire strippers, tin shapes ad side cutters
• Small handsaw, copying saw or miter box and backsaw
• Micro pry bar and nail puller
• Strip heater or heat gun
 Step 3: Disassembly
• The disassembly process is a very delicate process you should do it slowly and
with great care.
• Have you ever disassembled a broken item with the hope of repairing it, only to
have parts go flying across the room as soon as the cover was removed?
• The person incharge of product disassembly must not lose any of the internal
parts.
• Small plastic bags or envelopes and masking tape may help to organize parts.
• It is very important to take careful notes on the internal parts found within the
product.
• You can use a data organizer shown in the fig., to record information during
disassembly.
Step 3: Disassembly
 Step 3: Disassembly
• Think back to a time when you disassembled an item for repair. How successful
were you in putting the pieces back together? Did you remember where
everything went?
• Keeping this in mind, you can see how important it is to carefully record
information in an engineer's notebook. You should keep records on all part
locations, interaction with other parts, and the purpose or function of each part.
You can label parts by using masking tape to name or number the parts, which
are cross-referenced on the organizational chart and engineering notebook
sketches and entries.
• Designers often use digital photographs to record information at several stages
of disassembly and place them in their engineer's notebooks. They must keep in
mind the purpose of the inquiry as they perform the disassembly process. If the
purpose is to reduce the return rate due to product failure, a list of consumers'
comments should be reviewed prior to disassembly. The person disassembling
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Analysis is the most crucial part of the reverse engineering process.
• During the analysis step, engineers attempt to answer all of the questions
originally posed.
• There are four main categories of product analysis:
 Functional
 Structural
 Material
 Manufacturing
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Analysis requires detailed research of each category.
• Research results are recorded in the engineer's notebook along with sketches
and digital photos to provide clarity for detailed information.
• During analysis, some products may require partial reassembly to observe the
interaction of functional components.
• For example, in the Etch A Sketch, the wire, rods, and pulley components, which
control the movement of the stylus, remained assembled to trace the mechanical
function from the control knob to the brass stylus.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
Functional Analysis
• Simply put, how does the product work? Usually functional analysis involves
answering questions about a mechanical system or how an electronic circuit
works. Nearly all mechanical systems contain at least one of the following
elements
 Lever or crank
 Wheel or gears
 Cam
 Screw
 Object that transmits tension or compression, such as a pulley,
belt, chain. spring, or hydraulic fluid line
 Object that transmits intermittent motion, such as the ratchet
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Look for these elements when analyzing a product's mechanical function. During
analysis, an engineer will take measurements or perform tests on a product's
components.
• Many tools have been developed to aid in measuring parts. Accurate
measurements are important, and care must be taken to use each measuring
tool correctly.
• Micrometers and calipers are widely used to take precise measurements of
material thickness, internal and external diameters of shafts, and the depths of
slots and holes (see Figure below).
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Measurement provide a better understanding of part interactions and clearances.
• If you are reverse engineering to design a replacement part or improve an
existing part, accurate measurement are vital to a successful outcome.
• Some tools used to obtain measurements include
 Micrometers
 Calipers
 Radius gauge
 Feeler gauge
 Protractor or digital angle gauge
 Digital Scales
 3-D Scanner
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
Structural Analysis
• All structures, regardless of their purpose, must support internal and external
loads, and must hold parts in place.
• One of the first steps in structural analysis is to determine the purpose of each
part and how it interacts with the other parts.
• Structural analysis addresses all or some of these properties. The way a product
is constructed must provide:
 Support for internal parts
 Housing
 Container
 Protection
 Transportability
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Structural analysis involves principles of mechanics and material properties.
• Finite element analysis (FEA) software can be used to learn more about the
structural qualities of the product being reverse engineered.
• For the reverse engineering process, we will research and identify material
strength of the structural component and decide if those properties match the
structural purpose.
• Often computer programs with finite element analysis provide precise structural
and stress analysis information.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
Material Analysis
• The choice of material greatly affects a part's performance, and the material's
properties must be correctly matched to the part's application.
• At a most basic level, we can identify a material by its common name.
• Materials are usually identified by type, such as wood, metal, plastic, ceramic, or
composite.
• Designers need to understand material properties and how these properties
contribute to performance and durability (see Figure in next slide).
• It is also useful to know what kind of manufacturing processes are used to
manipulate materials into desired forms.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Analyzing materials requires understanding basic material properties, because
materials are also identified by scientific properties. These properties include:
 Mechanical
 Electrical
 Thermal
 Chemical
 Optical
 Acoustical
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• Material properties are measured in various units. For example, Young’s modulus
is a mechanical property that describes dimensional change in a material as it is
subjected to an applied load (pressure or weight).
• The values are measured in pounds per square inch (Ibs/in^2 or psi) or in
newtons per square centimeter (N/cm^2).
• Material property values are determined through standardized tests. The values
of these material properties are compared for design purposes.
• For example, structural steel has a Young’s modulus value of approximately
30,000,000 psi. The value for aluminum is approximately 10,000,009 psi.
Therefore, an engineer can look at these values and recognize that steel is three
times stronger than aluminum.
• This is one reason why builders construct the skeletal structures of skyscrapers
with steel instead of aluminum.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• The following items are helpful when testing material properties;
 Digital force scale or balance
 Laser temperature gun or thermometer
 Strip heater, heat gun, or oven
 Stop watch or timer
 Small flashlight and mirror, for visual inspection
 Material properties chart
 Magnets
 Continuity tester
 Durometer hardness gauge
 Material samples for comparison
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• When engineers analyze a product, they add careful notes in the engineer’s
notebook about the material characteristics of each part.
• As engineers examine the parts, they also look for signs of wear or other
indicators of potential failure.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
Manufacturing Analysis
• Manufacturing is a broad term used to describe the application of tools and
processes to the transformation of raw materials into finished goods.
• Designers always consider manufacturing processes during the design process.
• Professionals who help design the most efficient way to produce a new product
are manufacturing engineers. Manufacturing engineers are either part of the
design team or act as consultants during the design process.
• Many different systems to produce products are available. Few methods include
mass, just-in-time, lean, and sustainable manufacturing.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• The reverse engineering process determines how the product was manufactured.
Although it may be difficult to determine the actual production system used to
make the parts, the manufacturing processes are relatively easy to identify.
• Materials are manipulated by three different methods—forming, separating and
joining:
1. Forming methods use heat and/or pressure to reshape a material into a
desired form. .
2. Separation methods carve a desired form from an existing block of
material.
3. Joining methods combine two or more objects together.

• Other joining methods are used to create extremely strong and lightweight
composite materials, such as those found on modern aircraft. Refer Table in next
slide for a list of common industrial forming, separation, and joining processes.
Step 4: Analyze the Elements
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• The seven resources of technology are people, capital, tools, machines, time,
information, and energy.
• Along with these resources, the quantity of parts required, environmental impact,
and government regulations all enter into the determination of a suitable
manufacturing process.
• If large numbers of products are to be made, a mass production technique may
be most efficient. For smaller production runs, some assembly by hand may be
appropriate.
• Once you have identified the material and manufacturing process, you will need
to analyze the product’s assembly. During this step, you will closely examine the
product and review your notes from the disassembly phase to determine the
sequence of assembly.
 Step 4: Analyze the Elements
• The following questionnaire may be done while doing analysis:
 Can the entire product be assembled through automation, or are there
delicate parts that may need to be assembled by hand?
 Which parts will need to be assembled first?
 Can you think of a way to streamline the assembly process?
• Record your answers and ideas in your engineers notebook. These
considerations will greatly affect the product’s manufacturing cost.
 Step 5: Prepare the Report
• In the report stage of the reverse engineering process, you will present your
findings.
• Start out by confirming that you have addressed the purpose of the reverse
engineering inquiry by revisiting Step 1. For example, if the purpose of the
reverse engineering process was to develop CAD drawings for conversion to
computer numerical code (CNC), have you gathered the information necessary
to create them?
• If you reverse engineered a product to determine the durability of the internal
mechanisms, what did you discover? Did any parts show wear? Were you able to
determine the cause of the wear and how to correct it?
• If your purpose was product improvement or evolution, how did the information
gathered about the product function lead to new understanding?
 Step 5: Prepare the Report
• In preparation for your report, remember to revisit your hypothesis, Were your
assumptions correct? What information did you discover most helpful in
addressing the purpose of inquiry? Once you answer these questions, you are
ready to prepare your report for presentation.
• Communicating the results of your reverse engineering process in a clear and
concise way requires careful consideration and planning.
• Determine which method of delivery will be most effective in presenting the
relevant information.
• Design teams often use a PowerPoint program to support their presentation.
Sometimes teams use a poster session to graphically present information on a
series of poster panels.
• Other support documentation might include charts, graphs, photographs, video,
or a combination of these.
 Step 6: Product Redesign
• Depending on the initial purpose behind the reverse engineering and the
outcome of the process, redesign may occur.
• If continuous improvement or part failure initiated the process, then the data you
have gathered will lead to brainstorming of ideas for redesign.
• Did the reverse engineering process identify a weak part that will require
redesigning? Will you recommend different materials or a new manufacturing
process?
• At this point in the reverse engineering process, you could go in several
directions. Based on your findings, what recommendations would you make?
• Do not forget to use charts, graphs, or a CAD program to support your research
and ideas.
• The redesign may be as simple as correcting a weakness by changing the size or
part material. However, it may be as complex as redesigning into a completely
different product.
 Step 6: Product Redesign
• Many times a quality product inspires or leads to other developments by other
companies. You will often see many similar items on store shelves.
• Smart consumers will examine the features closely to compare options before
making a purchase.
• Sometimes a product leads to the development of accessory items, which are
used in conjunction with the original item. One example from this category
includes cell phone covers. They are designed to fit a product made by another
manufacturer and there are many styles and materials available.
• Do you think designers used reverse engineering to gather size specifications of
the cell phones?
[Link]