Advanced STEP parameterised and constrained features for reverse engineering

Reverse Engineering (RE) is a research field where physical models are measured or digitised in order to be reconstructed for finally obtaining a CAD model. Regarding the large range of existing approaches, the paper deals with features known by their mathematical equation (vectorial or Cartesian). Typically, these equations are obtained when a part composed by features is measured using a touch probe integrated on a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). The paper presents an interactive approach for RE of mechanical part designed using feature. It introduces a CAD model reconstruction methodology based on new STEP AP203 ED2 standard integrating parameterised features. This one enables the parameterisation of the rebuilt features which is needed for a complete integration of the new CAD model in a collaborative product development or a PLM approaches. The obtained CAD model is a 3D part fully parameterised. Last, the reconstruction methodology is detailed and is illustrated with examples.