Introduction to Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering has been practised since the beginning of technology. Fundamentally, it is about the identification of existing technical and natural solutions, and their reconstruction into new, identical or even improved technical solutions. Over the years it has flourished systematically, thanks to the development of new and technologically increasingly advanced and economically affordable measuring procedures, which allows the accurate reconstruction of not only technical principles but also detailed shapes and dimensions. This chapter explains the position of reverse engineering in the modern design and development process. It also introduces the main measuring methods for capturing data on the geometry of physical objects. These methods are divided into groups, depending on how they work and the physical laws on which they are based. We also present the main advantages and disadvantages of particular groups of methods, and recommendations for their application where the best results can be achieved.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia Nikola Vukašinović & Jože Duhovnik
  1. Nikola Vukašinović