What is Reverse Engineering? Uses, Disadvantages and Significance - A brief Report on Reverse Engineering

 What is Reverse Engineering?

Engineering involves process of designing, manufacturing, constructing, and maintaining of products, systems, and structures.  There are two types of engineering i.e., forward engineering and reverse engineering. 

Reverse Engineering or Back Engineering, it’s a process of revealing or extracting information from machines, softwares, aircrafts, architectural structures and pre-manufactured goods and products. It involves process of deconstructing the unit or individual cell of the product so as to identify how it was made or designed, so that one can recreate, modify or enhance its capabilities…as it involves working backward through the original design process by disassembling the product layer by layer or piece by piece that’s why it is also known as backwards engineering. It is useful to analyse how does a product work, how many components do it have, what it does, its estimate costs or to identify potential patent infringement. etc.

                                        Reverse engineering is applicable in the fields of computer engineering, mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, software engineering, chemical engineering, and systems biology.

Uses/Application or Disadvantages of Reverse Engineering: -

Let’s talk about its uses and application First: -

• It can be used for maintenance and improvement or development of a new software by understanding the underlying source code or relevant information which can help 

• out to fix bugs and vulnerabilities.

• It can be used in military applications to learn about enemy’s latest research by stealing or capturing a prototype and by application of reverse engineering one can make similar or even better to countermeasure against it.

• Companies often uses this approach when OEM (original equipment manufacturer) part is not available for purchase or use.

• It can also be used to save money by finding out the individual capabilities of a electronic part and by manufacturing its spare can help saving money instead of purchasing a separate product.

Disadvantages of Reverse Engineering: -  

• It’s a threat to product security, by understanding how a product works by determining the specifications of its components and estimate costs and by identifying the ways of potential patent infringement and by modifying a bit, one may intent to remove copy protection or steal technology or can create a possibly-improved copy or even a knockoff, which is usually the goal of a competitor.

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Reverse Engineering process is the most commonly used process for “cracking software and media”.  Pirated copies of the softwares and OS are the best example of it.

Significance of Reverse Engineering in the field of Mechanical Engineering!

Now a days Additive manufacturing or computer aided manufacturing is the most common techniques of developing or manufacturing of a new product, As CAD (Computer Aided Design) is the key or predominant part/step of it. Reverse Engineering Can help to create a 3d or CAD model of an existing physical part or complex/organic shape which is much difficult to build in CAD software by traditional methods accurately or precisely to use in CAM/ CAE or other softwares.

                           This process involves reading physical dimension of an object and reconstruct it as a 3d model. Reverse Engineering can be aided with 3D Scanning technologies like CMM laser scanners, structured light digitizers, or industrial CT scanning (computed tomography) which is more commonly used technology now a days for physical measurement of an object or product.