A system for reverse engineering parts using orthographic of prismatic images

Reverse engineering is the process of creating a CAD model and a manufacturing database for an existing part or a prototype. This process is necessary in redesigning existing parts and for automated inspection. In this research, a unique system has been developed which creates 3Dwireframe models for prismatic parts using four orthographic images captured by a machine vision system. Two cameras are used where one camera captures the top view of the object while the other camera captures the four side views by rotating the object in steps of 90 degrees. The images are processed and orthographic views are created. A3D wireframe model of the object is then created by stereo matching feature points in various orthographic views. This paper describes the developed feature extraction procedure, camera calibration method and the matching technique. Sample results are also given.