OBSOLESCENCE – REVERSE ENGINEERING
Object deconstruction
Simply de�� ned, reverse
engineering is a process of
deconstructing an object
to understand its design,
functions and architecture,
and creating a duplicate. The technique
is used for many purposes, including to
make components that are no longer
available (obsolete) and as a way to
make new, compatible products that are
cheaper.
It is often also used to copy something
which its creator does not wish to be
copied – for example captured military
hardware or a competing product.
Many large companies reverse engineer
competitors’ products simply to gain an
understanding of them.
The principle of reverse engineering
can be applied to many di�� erent types
of product with di�� erent techniques
required for each. Mechanical products
are disassembled into individual
components and dimensional
measurements are then made. It is
common to use 3D scanning to obtain
the complete shape of components and
then identify critical features, such as
holes and interface surfaces, for more
accurate measurement. This is often
done to re-document legacy products,
for example where no computer aided
design (CAD) data exists.
Electronic products are typically
reverse engineered by visual inspection
to identify the circuits used. For
integrated circuits this may require
chemical etching to reveal layers before
imaging using a scanning electron
microscope. Software is reverseengineered
by �� rst attempting to
examine source code, and if that
is not available then various
binary methods may be
used, such as analysis of
information exchange using
bus or packet analyzers.
Chemical analysis, meanwhile,
may be used to determine the
composition of a product or the
processes used to create it, which can
be important in determining patent
infringement.
ETHICS
In many cases, there are no ethical
issues with reverse engineering. For
example, where a company wishes to
re-document its own legacy product. At
the other end of the scale, it is generally
considered unethical to reverse engineer
a competitor’s product with the intention
of producing a low-cost copy. This
may or may not be legal, depending on
intellectual property law in the territory
of operation, as well as any relevant
patents and design registrations. Reverse
engineering may also be carried out by
the originator of a product to determine
whether a similar product infringes its
patents. This may be required because
patents often only cover very speci�� c
methods of constructing a product,
including the processes used to
manufacture it.
Between these clear-cut cases,
there are many grey areas. Reverse
engineering may be performed
to ensure compatibility with
a competitor’s product,
It is
generally
considered unethical
to reverse engineer a
competitor’s product with
rather than to copy
it. This is generally
legal and may even be
bene�� cial to the original
manufacturer. Regulations
tend to be stricter on reverse
engineering of software than of
mechanical products.
MECHANICAL PRODUCTS
Most mechanical products are now
designed using 3D CAD. The expectation
is that standard parts and legacy
products should be available within the
CAD system to be virtually assembled
as new products are being designed
or so that replacement parts can be
constructed. In many cases, however,
there are no drawings of the legacy parts,
or the drawings provide insu�� cient
data. For example, cast parts were often
only fully-de�� ned as physical patterns.
In these cases, it may be necessary to
reverse engineer the parts in order to
create the 3D CAD models.
The most widely used dimensional
measurement methods for reverse
engineering are laser scanning,
structured line scanning and coordinate
measurement machines (CMMs).
Traditional handheld instruments, such
Operations Engineer explores the basic principles of the reverse engineering
technique and how it can be carried out
By Jody Muelaner
the intention of
producing a
low-cost
copy
50 www.operationsengineer.org.uk Autumn 2020
/www.operationsengineer.org.uk
