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Reverse Engineering – Tools for the Digitalization of Existing Hardware

Reverse engineering refers to the process of analyzing an existing technical product in order to understand its structure, functionality, or geometry. The aim is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the original product so that it can be reproduced or improved. When applying this process in design and engineering, it is beneficial to digitize the product in a way that allows for examination and modification within a CAD environment.

In a specific case, it was necessary to integrate a housing component of a starter into the CAD software CATIA V5©. To achieve this, the component first had to be digitized, then post-processed, and finally converted into a file format compatible with CATIA©.
Using a standard 3D scanner, a Wavefront file (.obj) can be generated, which serves as the starting point for further processing. However, the raw scanner files typically contain numerous errors and extraneous geometries that must first be cleaned up using appropriate tools. For this purpose, programs such as Blender (open source) are highly suitable—provided that the user has sufficient proficiency with the software. Only thoroughly cleaned and corrected geometries are suitable for further processing in CATIA©.
In the case of the housing component, we successfully imported a clean, scaled STL file, which was then converted into a surface model for further refinement and design work.
With years of experience and ongoing professional development, IGEL AG possesses the necessary expertise to tackle all types of engineering challenges—always striving to deliver the best possible solutions.

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