Reverse engineering: Revive the old and inspire the new

Reverse manufacturing is basically synonymous with reverse engineering, where someone deconstructs and analyzes a product or system to reveal how it was made or works. While software can be reverse-engineered, reverse manufacturing is more likely to refer to a hardware component or assembly.

The reverse manufacturing process includes disassembling the product into its parts and measuring the parts’ dimensions, for which 3D laser scanning can help. Next comes creating 3D CAD models of the parts, where the engineer can make modifications. Finally, engineers can manufacture the parts from their 3D models using 3D printing or other methods.

Reverse engineering applies to many industries, for both software and hardware. Software written to work only with one microprocessor or operating system can be reverse-engineered and remade to work with a different processor or OS. Malware often uses reverse-engineered code as a disguise, and cybersecurity often reverse-engineers malware to fight it.

The biomedical field reverse engineers proteins, organs, DNA, and more to study their functions. Notably, the Human Genome Project used reverse engineering to sequence human DNA.

Design and manufacturing use reverse engineering for many things, including large-scale projects like appliances, computers, and even vehicles, such as the Soviet MiG-25 “Foxbat” fighter jet, which was reverse-engineered after a Russian pilot defected and landed in Japan.

Reverse engineering as a practice is ethically neutral. People, however, can apply it ethically or unethically. Laws governing reverse engineering will vary by nation. In the US, reverse engineering is generally legal if the product was acquired legally and does not violate patent, copyright, or other laws and contracts.

Ethical applications of reverse engineering include those that bring back discontinued products, create interoperability with other products, and make significant improvements over the original. Besides violating laws and contracts, unethical uses of reverse engineering include creating knockoffs of existing products with shoddy quality and sometimes a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the products’ origin to confuse potential customers.

The reverse engineering steps, particularly for hardware, usually follow this order.

An engineer acquires data, often by disassembling a product and 3D-scanning its parts, which generates digital point clouds of the parts. The engineer may also test the parts to learn more about their design intent. During post-processing, the engineer converts the point clouds into mesh models with reverse engineering software and then manually edits the meshes.

Next, the mesh is converted to a parametric model with solid surfaces, where the engineer can make improvements and dimensional changes. Finally, the engineer reviews the models against the initial scans and may begin the iterative prototyping process.