The objective of the project is to perform basic research leading to better understanding of surface fitting technologies in reverse engineering. Given a set of unorganized or semi-organized points, sampled from an engineering part, methodologies and algorithms are sought to fit a set of smooth surfaces to the data forming the boundaries of the original part design. The process is called reverse engineering and is used to re-engineer an existing part in the absence of the original design. Critical issues to be addressed are efficient surface definition, continuity across surface patches, data reduction, output surface data size, and recognition of conventional surfaces types, such as cylindrical or spherical parts.
If successful, the benefits of the research are: (1) a new paradigm for approximation in reverse engineering, (2) a set of visually describable algorithms that can be used in an academic course as well as in an industrial system, and (3) theoretical and computational foundations of robust and easy to implement fitting methodologies. The project is built upon a partnership between academia and industry to conduct basic research to leverage the competitiveness of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing industry.