Application of Sweeping Techniques to Reverse Engineering

Abstract

Reverse engineering refers to the process of developing a CAD model from a set of data collected from a physical part. Most reverse engineering applications assume that the parts are complete and the collected data provide complete information on them. In this paper, however, the authors consider the case where the parts are not complete due to breakage, and develop algorithms to infer the shapes of the original parts. Sweeping techniques are extensively used for the inference of shapes. Sweeping refers to the moving of a generator such as a curve, surface, or solid along a path . In this paper, the generator of sweep will be limited to a curve. There are three cases to consider: translational, rotational, and general. In each case, a part will be represented as a surface swept by a profile curve along a spine curve or a trajectory, both of which are modelled as NURBS curves. Once the original shape is inferred, the dimensions may be extracted from the original or mating part. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a software system that infers the shape of the original part from the incomplete data so that the broken or worn-out piece may be designed and manufactured.