Reverse Engineering
Introduction
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Purpose & Learning outcomes
purpose
1. Appreciate the real world of design and product realization
2. make a critical analysis of the design of existing components and propose
ways of improvement in terms of functions, reliability and costs
3. Model in CAD and detail a wide range of manufactured products,
including machines, parts of simple machines, and equipment
At the end of this course, the student should be able to;
1. Analyze a given mechanical component
2. Create an improved design from an existing component and prepare
process sheets for a given component
3. estimate production costs for any given mechanical component
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Course description
Importance and purpose of reverse engineering, Intellectual
property (IP) rights, Product analysis, Stages of reverse
engineering. Sketching and detailing of a wide range of
manufactured products including machines: parts of simple
machines and equipment such as gearbox, micrometer screw
gauge, pumps, blowers, stapler and fans. Design analysis and
report: force estimation; strength calculation; materials
testing and specification. Preparation of production process
sheets, quality control methods, cost estimation.
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Prerequisites: EMG 2304 Mechanics of Machines II
• Prescribed text books
• 1. Eilam E., (2005), Reverse Engineering, Wiley Publishing.
• 2. Pamela S., Suzanne S., (May 2002) The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering.
• References
1. Chikofsky E.J., Cross J.H., (1990), Reverse Engineering and Design Recovery: A Taxonomy, 2nd ed.
2. Tonella P. & Potrich A., Reverse Engineering of object oriented code, Springer.
3. Johnson W.L. (1996) Automated Software engineering, Kluwer Academic Publish ers, 3rd [Link] of
Applied Mechanics
• Teaching methodology: 2 hour lecture and 3 hour practice per week
• Mode of assessment: 3 hour written exam: 50% and Coursework: 50%, (i.e assignments:
• 30% and continuous assessment tests: 20%)
• Instruction materials/equipment
1. Mechanical Engineering laboratories and workshops;
2. Computer laboratory;
3. Overhead projector;
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Topics coverage
1. Introduction to reverse engineering.
2. Intellectual property (IP) rights.
3. Product analysis, Stages of reverse engineering.
4. Modelling in CAD and detailing of a wide range of manufactured products.
5. Design analysis and report: force estimation; strength calculation; materials
testing and specification.
6. Preparation of production process sheets.
7. Cost estimation.
8. Quality control methods.
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Definition
• The process of duplicating an existing part, subassembly,
or product, without drawings, documentation, or a
computer model, through;
• analyzing the existing object,
• breaking it down to its core components and
• measuring its critical dimensions to understand its function
and methodology
• recreating to a matching or improved specification.
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Reasons for Reverse Engineering
• A part or component of a product is no longer being produced.
• Refresh outdated manufacturing methods or types of materials.
• Re-design of defective or under-performing products.
• New product inspiration or competition analysis
• Create or re-create missing digital models of products.
• Build additional products or parts without drawings or schematics.
• Digital archiving
• Education and Research
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The process of reverse Engineering
[Link] extraction– a 3D scanner measures thousands of points over
an object’s surfaces to capture its form (point cloud (x, y, z) .
[Link] this data – the 3D scanner’s software turns this data into
information that gets represented by a CAD program through: Cleaning &
Filtering, Alignment, triangular mesh, NURBS, and Surface-solid model.
More traditionally, a new CAD model is created, but using the newly
obtained dimensions.
[Link] the design however is desired – an engineer can make adjustments
to the CAD model at this stage. This provides a platform to improve
functionality and reliability as required before saving it in a suitable format
to be manufactured.
[Link] your improved product – when your universal digital 3D file is
available, you can then reproduce it using manufacturing methods such as
3D printing, CNC and injection moulding.
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Data extraction
• Engineering objects are here classified according to their shape either
as
• free-form objects or
• conventional engineering objects.
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Constructing Freeform surfaces
• data acquisition,
• pre-processing,
• surface reconstruction,
• post-processing;
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Methods of Measurement
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There are many practical problems with acquiring
useable data, the major ones being:
a. Calibration
b. Accuracy
c. Accessibility
d. Occlusion
e. Fixture (placement)
f. Multiple views
g. Noise and incomplete data
h. Statistical distributions of parts
i. Surface finish
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Pre-processing
• Preprocessing of the data may be necessary, due to sampling errors,
varying sampling density, and registration errors.
• Regions covered by multiple scans, for example, may result in noisy
surfaces since tangential distances between nearest samples may be much
smaller than the sampling error orthogonal to the surface.
• In this case, it is necessary to remove redundant points introduced by
combining different points from multiple scans.
• In other regions, the density may be lower due to cavities and highly non-
orthogonal scanning.
• If additional information, like a parametrization originating from each scan
is available, interpolation can be used to fill these gaps.
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post-processing
• A final step aims on improving the quality of the generated mesh.
• This is achieved by applying a mesh relaxation step based on the
constricted repositioning of mesh vertices tangential to the
approximated surface.
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Fig 1. Principle steps of reverse engineering: (a) point cloud acquisition by 3D object scanner, mostly laser range scan
devices; (b) slices scanned from different views, (c) combined point cloud, (d) reconstructed mesh, (e) result after post-
processing.
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CAD in Reverse Engineering
• Obtaining point data
• Modelling and refining
• Analyzing and optimizing
design
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RE Project Scope
• Study the functional requirements of the parts
• Study the materials used for each component
• Extract data (existing)
• Model each part
• Assemble the parts
• Prepare part and assembly drawings
• Propose a manufacturing process for each component
• Search for Patent information (WIPO- PATENTSCOPE)
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Intellectual Property rights (IP rights)
• The group of legal rights associated with patents, trademarks,
copyrights, and trade secrets.
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Trademark Patent Copyright
What's A word, phrase, design, or a Technical inventions, such as Artistic, literary, or
legally combination that identifies chemical compositions like intellectually created works, such
protected? your goods or services, pharmaceutical drugs, as novels, music, movies, software
distinguishes them from the mechanical processes like code, photographs, and paintings
goods or services of others, complex machinery, or machine that are original and exist in a
and indicates the source of designs that are new, unique, tangible medium, such as paper,
your goods or services. and usable in some type of canvas, film, or digital format.
industry.
What's an Coca-Cola® for soft drinks A new type of hybrid engine Song lyrics to “Let It Go”
example? from "Frozen"
What are Protects the trademark from Safeguards inventions and Protects your exclusive right to
the benefits being registered by others processes from other parties reproduce, distribute, and
of federal without permission and helps copying, making, using, or perform or display the created
protection? you prevent others from using selling the invention without work, and prevents other people
a trademark that is similar to the inventor’s consent. from copying or exploiting the
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yours with related goods or creation without the copyright
Patents
• Patents are the primary means of protecting an
original invention.
• Designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1790 to provide a
brief legal monopoly to give the inventor an
opportunity to get the invention into the market and
recoup development costs before competitors
entered the market.
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Patents Protect Inventions
You need a patent if:
• You have invented a product you want to market yourself or sell to
a manufacturer.
• You believe someone else could sell the product by copying your
invention.
Patent application must include:
▪ In-depth description of invention.
▪ Drawing of invention.
▪ Completed “Declaration for Patent Application.”
▪ Notarized statement from inventor.
▪ Filing fee to U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
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PROTECTING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Patent = an exclusive right to an invention
• Patents – Two Types
• Utility Patents
• (functional) toys, coatings, tools, machines
• good for 20 years
• Design Patents
• (nonfunctional) a decoration, apparel, jewelry
• Can easily be designed around...no functionality to protect
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Four Rules of Patentability
The invention must fit into one of the five classes established by
Congress for utility patents:
A. Machine (fax, rocket, electronic circuits)
B. Process (chemical reactions, methods for producing products)
C. Articles of manufacture (furniture, diskettes)
D. Composition (gasoline, food additives)
E. A new use for one of the above
It must have utility – in other words, be useful.
It must not contain prior art. Prior art is the state of knowledge that is
publicly available or published prior to the date of the invention.
The invention must not be obvious to someone with ordinary skills in the
field.
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Pathway to a Patent
• File a Disclosure Document (Disclosure Statement)
• Establishes date of conception of idea (who has the rights?)
• Get a two year grace period
• File a Provisional Patent Application
• Protect your ideas while talking to manufacturers/potential funders
• Can use the term “patent pending” on the invention
• Only good for 12 months...then must file non-provisional application
• File Non-Provisional Patent Application
• File complete description with the PTO (Patent & Trademark Office)
• “patent applied for” good for two years’ of protection
• Denials allow an appeal process
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The Patent Process
• Patent Infringement
• Patents give the holder the right to enforce the patent
• Defense costs in time and money make it difficult for small
business to enforce.
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Foreign Patents
• Patent rights granted to an individual extend only to
the borders of the country
• Every country has different laws regarding intellectual
property.
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Other Safeguards
Trademarks ® or TM or SM
©
A symbol or design or logo used to identify a
business or a product
Trademark can’t be registered until it’s used
Copyrights ©
™
Protects original works of authors, composers, and
computer programmers
Protects only the form in which it appears
Good for life of author, plus 70 years
Trade Secrets
Can only be protected through employment
contracts
Recipes, ingredients, codes, mfg costs
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Trademarks
• Trademark:
• A symbol, logo, word, sound, color, design, or other device
that is used to identify a business or a product in
commerce.
• It has a longer life than a patent.
• It grants a business exclusive rights to a trademark for
as long at it is actively using it.
• ® Registered trademark
• ™ Intent to use application filed for product
• SM Intent to use application filed for services
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Trademarks & Service Marks
• Trademark = word, phrase, symbol, or design to set
your product apart
• Service mark = same as trademark, but for a service
• Rights are reserved exclusively for owners for 17 years…can
be renewed…lasts indefinitely
• There are advantages to owning them on the U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office Principal Register
• TM = unregistered trade mark, SM = unregistered service
mark, ® = registered trade mark
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Not trademarkable:
• Anything immoral or deceptive
• Anything that uses official symbols of the U.S. or any
state/municipality such as the flag
• Anything that uses a person’s name or likeness without their
permission
SM ® ™
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Trademarks & Service Marks
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Trademarks & Service Marks
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Trademarks & Service Marks
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Trademark Infringement,
Counterfeiting, and Dilution
• Infringement - A mark that is likely to cause confusion with a
trademark already existing in the marketplace
• Counterfeiting - The deliberate copying of a mark
• Dilution - The value of the mark is substantially reduced
through competition or through the likelihood of confusion
from another mark
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Copyrights ©
• Copyright:
• Protection for authors of original works…whether
published or unpublished
• Covers original works of authors, composers, screenwriters,
and computer programmers
• Owner has the sole right to print, reprint, sell & distribute,
revise, record, & perform the work
• Lasts for the life of the holder + 70 years
• Expired copyrights cannot enter the public domain until 2019
• Works for hire-works published anonymously have copyrights
of 95 years from date of publication
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Copyrights (continued)
• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998
• Prohibits the falsification, alteration, or removal of
copyright management data on digital copies. It made it a
crime to circumvent an encrypted work without
authorization.
• Obtaining copyright protection
• Federal protection is available if the work is in a fixed and
tangible form; contains a copyright notice and year, and the
full name of the responsible person.
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Copyrights (continued)
• International protection
• The Berne Convention gives protection for the life of the
author +50 years
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Trade Secrets
• A trade secret consists of
• a formula, device, idea, process, pattern, or compilation of
information that gives the owner a competitive advantage
in the marketplace,
• a novel idea that is not common knowledge and is kept in a
confidential state.
• A trade secret is not protected by law
• Can only be protected through employment contracts
and/or maintaining tight security
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