Practical 3D Scanning: Reverse Engineering Software
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Reverse Engineering Software
06.44
| 00:00 | After capturing our scan data, processing it and converting it to a mesh, we're now ready to use it. |
| 00:06 | There are lots of different ways we can do this , but one of the primary ones and the focus of this section of the course is reverse engineering. |
| 00:13 | In terms of 3D scanning, this is the process of scanning an existing part to recreate it as a digital model using CAD. |
| 00:21 | As we know, once we have a CAD model, we can use it to open a lot of doors for analysis and manufacturing. |
| 00:29 | Typically the aim is to create a parametric model from the mesh, meaning it will be feature based and those features are controlled by a set of parameters. |
| 00:38 | With this, we can integrate the model into our regular design workflow. |
| 00:43 | Essentially, we'll have the ability to modify and improve the part and also recreate it. |
| 00:49 | The issue that we've touched on briefly is that most CAD software packages suitable for mechanical design are great at working with solid models and even surfaces, but are limited when it comes to working with mesh files. |
| 01:02 | For this reason, dedicated reverse engineering software has been developed with tools specifically intended for working with 3D scan meshes. |
| 01:11 | Some of this involves use of mesh editing tools that we covered in the earlier practical scanning section. |
| 01:17 | For example, cleaning the mesh, filling holes as well as aligning and merging so check back if you need a refresher. |
| 01:25 | In this section of the course, we'll take the approach of extracting entities from the scan using this software. |
| 01:31 | These entities are essentially the features of the object like planar surfaces or even cross sectional curves, but this will make a lot more sense as we progress through this work. |
| 01:42 | These could also be referred to as CAD primitives , which are the most basic shapes the CAD system can create like cubical, cylindrical, conical and spherical bodies and so on. |
| 01:54 | These are the building blocks of our model. |
| 01:57 | We'll then transfer these into a general CAD program and work towards recreating the object as a parametric model. |
| 02:04 | In other words, we'll be using each type of software based on its strengths. |
| 02:08 | To be clear, you'll see that there's a lot of crossover between reverse engineering software and general CAD programs. |
| 02:15 | For example, extracting entities can be done in software like SolidWorks or Fusion just as general 3D modelling can be done in some reverse engineering software. |
| 02:25 | So, there are different approaches to carrying out this work, it's just not practical to cover all of the options here, but we'll come back to address these in worked examples later in the course. |
| 02:36 | So, for now, just understand that the ideas are transferable between the various programs with some time adjusting to the different conventions of each piece of software. |
| 02:46 | Moving on, before getting into the practical work in the next module, let's quickly discuss some software options. |
| 02:52 | It's hard to start any reverse engineering conversation without mentioning Geomagic Design X as this is generally considered to be the best of the best for 3D scan reverse engineering software. |
| 03:04 | This is essentially its own powerful CAD software with all the normal tools we're familiar with like datums, planes, axes and sketches, along with the creation tools like extrudes, lofts, sweeps and revolves and modification tools like fillets and chamfers. |
| 03:22 | The key advantage of Geomagic though is that it's equipped with a lot of tools designed specifically for working with mesh files. |
| 03:30 | For example, the process called auto segmentation identifies regions of the mesh as geometric features like cylinders, revolutions, planes or more free form surfaces. |
| 03:41 | In other words, it automatically extracts entities. |
| 03:45 | This won't do all the work for us, but it gets us about halfway. |
| 03:49 | From here, a typical next step is creating mesh section sketches, which, as you might have guessed, creates a section profile where the plane intersects a mesh body. |
| 03:59 | With some more work, this profile can then be used with our general CAD tools to create features and build up a parametric model. |
| 04:07 | Geomagic will export directly into various dedicated CAD programs, building the model with the features from the Geomagic workspace. |
| 04:15 | Although it's not uncommon to have to tidy up some errors with features after this transfer process. |
| 04:21 | It's also available as a plugin for Solidworks so it can be used from within So,lidworks workspace for a more seamless integration. |
| 04:30 | The downside of Geomagic Design X is its eye watering expense at around $20,000 US dollars. |
| 04:37 | While the cheaper, more basic Geomagic Essentials comes in at around $3,000. |
| 04:43 | Competitor offerings are available although Artec Studio, naturally designed for use with Artec scanners, still comes in at just under $3,000 for the perpetual licence and VX model from Creaform comes in at around $10,000. |
| 04:59 | While some of these limit the files we can use to only those native to that brand of scanner, in some of these programs we can import a mesh from any 3D scanner to work with, like in Quicksurface for example. |
| 05:12 | More typical and accessible alternatives are scanner software bundles. |
| 05:16 | Whether scanner we purchase or use will come with a reverse engineering software package, although often at some extra expense. |
| 05:24 | The CAD or reverse engineering software may also be part of the scanning software, so we can complete the scan, tidy up the scan data, convert it to a mesh and extract entities all in one workspace. |
| 05:38 | Peel.CAD developed for use with Peel scanners is a good example of this. |
| 05:42 | Peel.OS is the basic 3D scanning software for Peel scanners. |
| 05:48 | But if we have Peel.CAD, then we can scan and carry out the reverse engineering process all in one program. |
| 05:55 | Before moving on to the practical reverse engineering work, let's recap the main points from this module. |
| 06:01 | Reverse engineering in a 3D scanning context is the process of recreating a real object that we've scanned in our CAD software and we generally want this to be a parametric model. |
| 06:13 | Specialised software options help extract entities from the 3D scan mesh file and then we can use these in our general CAD package to recreate the model. |
| 06:23 | There's a fair amount of crossover in software options and different approaches can be taken with options from the likes of dedicated reverse engineering programs like Geomagic Design X, to more accessible scan to CAD packages, but the same ideas apply regardless. |
