Off Topic - Reverse Engineering

[jnelson]

Anyone have experience/knowledge with scanning parts into a 3D model?
Looking for recommendations, experiences (good/bad), quality of files versus expectations, etc.,...

One example would be Geomagic (http://www.geomagic.com/en/products/capture/overview)

[mlocascio]

Joel,



Are you thinking along the lines of "point clouds" or something like that?
Typically reverse engineering requires a lot of tape measure and caliper
work. Then you need to figure out what the design intent of the
parts/assemblies should be.



Michael P. Locascio

[TomU]

We use outside vendors for blue/white light scanning. The point cloud data is then brought into SolidWorks to create best fit surfaces. (Creo can do this, but the option is very expensive.) These surfaces are "dumb". If you need to create best fit "editable" geometry, then you will need to use something like Geomagic or other similar products.

Tom U.

[MikeBrattoli]

Hi Joel,

We've been doing reverse engineering from scan data and foam models for many years, originally with a laser scanner and now with a camera scanner - in both cases we use Geomagic Studio. We originally used the Restyle (REX) module in Pro/E but found it too limited for what we wanted to do, hence the move to the Geomagic product back in 2007.

The "cleaned-up" scan data is brought into Creo Parametric as an IGES surface file out of Studio - NOT as scan data datum points unless absolutely necessary. We use them as 3D trace sketches, cutting sections and creating curves / surfaces as needed to match the scanned geometry (standard practice is to select one half of the scanned data to use for the native Creo part construction.

This is a standard practice for us for all aesthetic components and allows for rapid iteration of an I.D. design concept. We also do the same with older parts if we need to recreate tooling and all we have is a 2D print. This has been a very successful way of working here.

We do have one important caveat - when the part model has been approved the designer/engineer MUST be able to delete the scanned data. We don't allow external references between the modifiable geometry and the scan data.

Hope this helps - if not, let me know.

Best regards,

Mike Brattoli
Moen Incorporated
Global Product Development Process Management
Administrator - PLM
25300 Al Moen Drive
North Olmsted, OH 44070

[JoshuaHouser]

My experience is similar to Michael's, although surely not as broad.

Geomagic is the way to go. If I had the task today, I would go find somebody that does it all the time. I waste way too much time fiddling with point clouds and trying to get it perfect.

Joshua Houser

(have I talked to you about FIRST robotics yet?)

Pelco by Schneider Electric

Methods & Tools Sr. Engineer

[drichards]

I've researched working with scan data a little, did some simpler stuff fairly well, but don't know enough about it.

My question is, and it will probably show my ignorance, why aren't the surfaces obtained or created in "studio" satisfactory for model creation? Or is it that your ultimate goal isn'ttotal accuracy with the scan data, but rather a parametric model that can be modified further before the design is complete?

[mlocascio]

Dan and the Gang,



I have a question that stems from this discussion. I have created parts
using the freeform options. This creates the shape that I want. Is there any
way to assign dimensions to this kind of feature?



Michael P. Locascio