Product design today is largely a digital effort. Paperless design has been something that we’ve been writing about for years, but the reality is that though designs can be tested, verified and validated digitally, physical parts and prototypes remain a reality for most manufacturers. As a result, capturing data from physical objects and putting that data back into the digital model is often a crucial part of the design cycle.

Reverse engineering remains important design task

Reverse engineering enables users to create a 3D virtual model of an existing physical part that can then be used in 3D CAD, computer-aided manufacturing and other computer-aided engineering applications.

More manufacturers are adding reverse engineering to their product development efforts, in part, because the costs of the scanners and other hardware used to input measurements have dropped dramatically in price. At the same time the hardware has gotten smaller and easier to use. The software has also become easier to use and the process of converting and managing scanned data simplified.

SolidWorks users now have new 3D scanner point cloud tool

ReverseEngineering.com has recently debuted new add-in software that will make it easier for SolidWorks users to convert dense scanned data into usable SolidWorks 3D geometry. This feature-based 3D scanning point cloud tool is fully integrated inside the SolidWorks 2014 modeling engine.

The software’s scan tools include the ability to thin and cut cross-section through point clouds and create feature tree surfaces in real time, along with 2D/3D features and complex 3D shapes. The add-in works with Faro EDGE, Romer Absolute, MicroScribe, 3D Creator, Focus 3D, Cyclone, Artec Spider, Steinbichler, ATOS, HDI 3D, and Leica scanners to create parametric feature tree models.

ReverseEngineering.com is the first SolidWorks gold partner to integrate support for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) 3D scanners. At the recent SolidWorks World event, the company demonstrated 3D scanning pump impellers, human faces, sports helmets and processed the data in real time. The on-demand workflow simplifies end user requirements of working with dense point clouds in Solidworks Standard or Premuim.

Find out more on this new 3D scanner point cloud add-in here.

Barb Schmitz