Characterizing the Effects of Learning When Reverse Engineering Multiple Samples of the Same Product

2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane K. Curtis ◽  
Stephen P. Harston ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson

Reverse engineering is the process of extracting information about a product from the product itself. An estimate of the barrier and time to extract information from any product is useful for the original designer and those reverse engineering, as both are affected by reverse engineering activities. The authors have previously presented a set of metrics and parameters to estimate the barrier and time to reverse engineer a product once. This work has laid the foundation for the developments of the current paper, which address the issue of characterizing the reverse engineering time and barrier when multiple samples of the same product are reverse engineered. Frequently in practice, several samples of the same product are reverse engineered to increase accuracy, extract tolerances, or to gather additional information from the product. In this paper, we introduce metrics that (i) characterize learning in the reverse engineering process as additional product samples are evaluated and (ii) estimate the total time to reverse engineer multiple samples of the same product. Additionally, an example of reverse engineering parts from a control valve is introduced to illustrate how to use the newly developed metrics and to serve as empirical validation.

Author(s):  
Shane K. Curtis ◽  
Stephen P. Harston ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson

Reverse engineering is the process of extracting information about a product from the product itself. An estimate of the barrier and time to extract information from any product is useful for the original designer and those reverse engineering, as both are affected by reverse engineering activities. The authors have previously presented a set of metrics and parameters to estimate the barrier and time for product reverse engineering. This work has laid the foundation for the developments of the current paper, which address the issue of tolerance extraction during reverse engineering. Under the developments presented herein, measurement and statistical analysis of the variation between multiple samples of a product are required to reverse engineer its tolerances. When reconstruction is the reason reverse engineering activities are carried out, this level of reverse engineering can be critical, as tolerances ensure that products function properly and consistently. In this paper, we introduce metrics that (i) characterize how the flow of information from a product during reverse engineering changes as additional product samples are evaluated, and (ii) estimate the total barrier and time to reverse engineer the tolerances of a product. Additionally, a simple example is introduced to illustrate how to use the newly developed metrics and to serve as empirical validation.


Author(s):  
Suraj R. Musuvathy ◽  
David E. Johnson ◽  
H. James de St. Germain ◽  
Elaine Cohen ◽  
Chimiao Xu ◽  
...  

Reverse engineering is a time-consuming and technically formidable process that is increasingly becoming an economic imperative due to replacement costs. The Multiple Engineering Resources aGent Environment (MERGE) system, introduced in this paper, is a new approach toward reverse engineering whose architecture and modules are driven specifically by the requirements of legacy engineering. Legacy engineering scenarios presume availability of multiple (possibly incomplete or inconsistent) sources of information, lack of digital descriptions of the parts, constrained time restrictions and need for significant domain knowledge expertise. The reverse engineering process must yield modern CAD models capable of driving state-of-the art CAM processes. The MERGE system aims at making the reverse engineering process more effective, using both intuitive interaction and visualization as key components, by enabling quick identification and resolution of inconsistencies among various resources in a unified environment. The MERGE system also aims at simplifying the reverse engineering process by integrating various computational agents to assist the reverse engineer in processing information and in creating the desired CAD models.


Author(s):  
H. James de St. Germain ◽  
David E. Johnson ◽  
Elaine Cohen

Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of defining and instantiating a model based on the measurements taken from an exemplar object. Traditional RE is costly, requiring extensive time from a domain expert using calipers and/or coordinate measurement machines to create new design drawings/CAD models. Increasingly RE is becoming more automated via the use of mechanized sensing devices and general purpose surface fitting software. This work demonstrates the ability to reverse-engineer parts by combining feature-based techniques with freeform surface fitting to produce more accurate and appropriate CAD models than previously possible.


Author(s):  
Mark Snider ◽  
Sudhakar Teegavarapu ◽  
D. Scott Hesser ◽  
Joshua D. Summers

Reverse engineering has gained importance over the past few years due to an intense competitive market aiding in the survivability of a company. This paper examines the reverse engineering process and what, how, and why it can assist in making a better design. Two well known reverse engineering methodologies are explored, the first by Otto and Wood and the second by Ingle. Each methodology is compared and contrasted according to the protocols and tools used. Among some of the reverse engineering tools detailed and illustrated are: Black box, Fishbone, Function Structure, Bill of Material, Exploded CAD models, Morphological Matrix, Subtract and Operate Procedure (SOP), House of Quality matrix, and FMEA. Even though both methodologies have highly valued tools, some of the areas in reverse engineering need additional robust tooling. This paper presents new and expanded tooling to augment the existing methods in hopes of furthering the understanding of the product, and process. Tools like Reverse Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (RFMEA), Connectivity graphs, and inter-relation matrix increase the design efficiency, quality, and the understanding of the reverse engineering process. These tools have been employed in two industry projects and one demonstrative purpose for a Design for Manufacture Class. In both of these scenarios, industry and academic, the users found that the augmented tools were useful in capturing and revealing information not previously realized.


Author(s):  
Jai Menon ◽  
Ranjit Desai ◽  
Jay Buckey

Abstract This paper extends the “cross-sectional” approach for reverse engineering, used abundantly in biomedical applications, to the mechanical domain. We propose a combination of “projective” and cross-sectional algorithms for handling physical artifacts with complex topology and geometry. In addition, the paper introduces the concept of constraint-based reverse engineering, where the constraint parameters could include one or more of the following: time, storage (memory, disk-space), network bandwidth, Quality of Service (output-resolution), and so forth. We describe a specific reverse-engineering application which uses ultrasound (tilt-echo) imaging to reverse engineer spatial enumeration (volume) representations from cross-sectional data. The constraint here is time, and we summarize how our implementation can satisfy real-time reconstruction for distribution of the volume data on the internet. We present results that show volume representations computed from static objects. Since the algorithms are tuned to satisfy time constraints, this method is extendable to reverse engineer temporally-varying (elastic) objects. The current reverse engineering processing time is constrained by the data-acquisition (tilt-echo imaging) process, and the entire reverse engineering pipeline has been optimized to compute incremental volume representations in the order of 3 seconds on a network of four processors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger P. A’Hern

Abstract Background Accuracy can be improved by taking multiple synchronous samples from each subject in a study to estimate the endpoint of interest if sample values are not highly correlated. If feasible, it is useful to assess the value of this cluster approach when planning studies. Multiple assessments may be the only method to increase power to an acceptable level if the number of subjects is limited. Methods The main aim is to estimate the difference in outcome between groups of subjects by taking one or more synchronous primary outcome samples or measurements. A summary statistic from multiple samples per subject will typically have a lower sampling error. The number of subjects can be balanced against the number of synchronous samples to minimize the sampling error, subject to design constraints. This approach can include estimating the optimum number of samples given the cost per subject and the cost per sample. Results The accuracy improvement achieved by taking multiple samples depends on the intra-class correlation (ICC). The lower the ICC, the greater the benefit that can accrue. If the ICC is high, then a second sample will provide little additional information about the subject’s true value. If the ICC is very low, adding a sample can be equivalent to adding an extra subject. Benefits of multiple samples include the ability to reduce the number of subjects in a study and increase both the power and the available alpha. If, for example, the ICC is 35%, adding a second measurement can be equivalent to adding 48% more subjects to a single measurement study. Conclusion A study’s design can sometimes be improved by taking multiple synchronous samples. It is useful to evaluate this strategy as an extension of a single sample design. An Excel workbook is provided to allow researchers to explore the most appropriate number of samples to take in a given setting.


Author(s):  
Stephen P. Harston ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson

Reverse engineering, defined as extracting information about a product from the product itself, is a common industry practice for gaining insight into innovative products. Both the original designer and those reverse engineering the original design can benefit from estimating the time and barrier to reverse engineer a product. This paper presents a set of metrics and parameters that can be used to calculate the barrier to reverse engineer any product as well as the time required to do so. To the original designer, these numerical representations of the barrier and time can be used to strategically identify and improve product characteristics so as to increase the difficulty and time to reverse engineer them. As the metrics and parameters developed in this paper are quantitative in nature, they can also be used in conjunction with numerical optimization techniques, thereby enabling products to be developed with a maximum reverse engineering barrier and time — at a minimum development cost. On the other hand, these quantitative measures enable competitors who reverse engineer original designs to focus their efforts on products that will result in the greatest return on investment.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40-41 ◽  
pp. 873-876
Author(s):  
Hua Chu ◽  
Qing Shan Li ◽  
Shen Ming Hu ◽  
Ping Chen

Aspect mining is a reverse engineering process that aims at finding crosscutting concerns in existing systems. This paper describes an aspect mining approach making use of the results of reverse engineering, statechart diagram, to aid in the understanding of an object-oriented software system’s behaviors. An aspect based on the recovered statechart diagram is defined as a set of states and an event. These states will transit to the same state after they send the event. Finally, systematic experiment is conducted in the paper in order to verify the correctness and validity of this approach.


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