Reverse Engineering

Engineering is the profession involved in designing, manufacturing, constructing & maintaining of products, systems, & structures. At the higher level of engineering there are two types of engineering: Forward engineering & Reverse engineering.

Forward engineering is the traditional approach of building the product the product i.e. making the product from the scratch i.e. to build the new system, logical design or we can say the proper blue print has to be maintained.

Reverse engineering process of extracting knowledge or design information from anything man-made. The ultimate goals for obtaining such information are varied. A typical goal of reverse engineering a product is to create a copy (possibly improved) or even a knockoff (new product), this is usually the goal of the competitor. The process of reverse engineering often involves disassembling something (a mechanical device, electronic component, computer program or practically anything which is man-made) & analyzing its components & working in detail. Reverse engineering has its origin in the analysis of hardware for commercial or military advantage. In the reverse engineering process, it is done exactly in the reverse way. The product is available with the product designer. The job of the designer is to go through the details of the existing product and the system specification or that product. The job also includes the preparation of detailed assembly, sub-assembly, component drawings. This apart, the designer has to develop the material requirement, material specification, quantity of material required to produce the item. After identifying the details, detailed design drawings and subsequently the engineering drawings are developed. Using these, the normal production techniques are adopted to product the product. In some cases the goal of reverse engineering process can simply be a re-documentation of legacy systems. The main of reverse engineering is may not obtain the same product but to obtain the best product for the user.

Objectives for which Reverse Engineering is done: 

1. Graphical User Interface: Reverse engineering is done to obtain the user friendly product. So to make a system which is user friendly & easy to operate is the main reason for which Reverse engineering is done.
2. Military espionage: We are in that phase of dispute where any reason can lead to a war. So just to make your military or defense system strong is not everything but to obtain information about the enemy is also the main task. So Reverse engineering is done for better Research & Development.
3. Improve Documentation: Reverse engineering is done for improving the design phase of the system as many new technology & betterment is emerging day by day. So it’s necessary to be updated with the technology.
4. Cost Reduction: As companies or corporation aim for the higher profit so to achieve this the only action can be taken is to increase production or reduce the cost of production. So to achieve this old system has to be renewed.

As computer-aided design (CAD) has become more popular, reverse engineering has become a viable method to create a 3D virtual model. So with the help of 3D model even minute flaws can be detected at the initial level. Reverse engineering is also used by businesses to bring existing physical geometry into digital product development environments, to make a 3D record of their own products or to access competitors.

It can be said that reverse engineering begins with the product & works through the design process in the opposite direction to arrive at a product definition statement (PDS). In doing so, it uncovers as much information as possible about design ideas that were used to produce a particular product.

-NIKHIL JAIN