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"We have dealt with DRB for a number of years and cannot fault them for their service and professionalism. We have asked DRB to attend site at short notice and assist with some issues which were all dealt with swiftly. Superb service."

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"We have dealt with DRB for a number of years and cannot fault them for their service and professionalism. We have asked DRB to attend site at short notice and assist with some issues which were all dealt with swiftly. Superb service."

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Rishabh Engineering Services - Quality Engineering Solutions

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What is Reverse Engineering?

An engineering process implemented for enhancing the existing facilities required for

Plant Relocation

Plant Modernization

Capacity Enhancement

Efficiency Enhancement

This process basically revamps an existing plant and its infrastructure built during pre-computer era or for an industrial plant with no "As-Built" drawings/data.

There are two ways of implementing reverse engineering process for an existing industrial plant:

1. Manual Reverse Engineering - By deputing skilled manpower to factory/plant site for extracting field changes and conducting industrial survey. This method is

Time consuming

Cost intensive

Less accurate hence less reliable

2. Laser Scanning Reverse Engineering - This procedure is

Faster

More economical

Highly accurate & reliable

Rishabh Engineering - A Plant Reverse Engineering Company

We help the industry patrons in creating "As-Built" drawings of their existing industrial plants by using laser technology. Scanning is carried out and is converted into intelligent 3D models for implementing detailed engineering for the revised parameters.

We serve as a ONE-STOP SHOP for 3D laser scanning for industrial plants and detailed engineering.

Process for Industrial Plant Reverse Engineering

1. 3D Scanning, Registration & Stitching

2. Developing 3D Model

3. Creating Intelligent 3D Model on CADWorx, PDMS, PDS, AutoPlant 3D, AutoCAD Revit

4. Incorporating revised parameters for the final enhanced capacity

5. Detailed Engineering to carry out Installation & Commissioning

Rishabh Engineering Initiative

Reverse Engineering Service Using 3D Laser Scanning For A Typical Semiconductor Unit

If you are looking for the following:

Plant Modernization

Capacity Enhancement

Enhancing Energy Efficiency

Relocation of Plant

Industrial Surveys

Or

"As-Built" Drawings of an Existing Plant for Insurance Purposes

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Rishabh Engineering has been awarded the "Drivers of Success Award-2016"...

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3D Laser Scanning & Reverse Engineering For Industrial Plant

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An engineering process implemented for enhancing the existing facilities required for Plant Relocation Plant Modernization Capacity Enhancement Efficiency Enhancement This process basically revamps an existing plant and its infrastructure built during pre-computer era or for an industrial plant with no "As-Built" drawings/data.

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Engineering is a very versatile industry that is always getting creative. Using creativity and innovation, engineers create never-before-seen products that benefit their communities. They play a key role in expanding local economy and sparking business exchanges. However, one question remains: how do engineers innovate in such a fast-paced environment?

The answer is the reverse, literally. Reverse engineering plays a huge role in sparking innovative and productive minds that produce necessities across every industry. The reverse engineering process includes taking apart worn down products to examine how individual parts work, and then incorporating past inventions into new ones. There are plenty of benefits to the reverse engineering process that will only expand our knowledge and capabilities.

1. Exploring existing designs and maneuvers
Reverse engineering allows us to see what already exists. This includes any parts, structures, or processes that could benefit communities in other ways. Examining current products leads to innovation and discovery, all thanks to reverse engineering.

2. Reconstructing a product that is outdated
A key part of redesigning an existing product is understanding the product itself. Reverse engineering provides the visual to work out outdated kinks in an older system. Quality is the most important aspect of this process.

3. Discovering any product vulnerabilities
Similar to the previous step, reverse engineering supports finding faults in the product. This is to ensure the safety and well-being of the product's users. It is best for an issue to arise during the research phase rather than the distribution phase.

4. Bringing less expensive & more efficient products to the market
Reverse engineering's main goal is to lead engineers on a path towards innovation and success. Succeeding includes lowering manufacturing costs and raising product effectiveness as much as possible.

5. Creating a reliable CAD model for future reference
Most reverse engineering processes include a full-working CAD file for future references. A CAD file is created so the part can be examined digitally if future issues arise. This form of technology has enhanced engineering productivity and product expression.

6. Inspiring creative minds with old ideas
Lastly, reverse engineering gives way for innovative design. During the process, an engineer might discover a system that could be useful for a completely different project. This shows how engineering connects projects with previous knowledge.

CEDARVILLE Engineering Group, LLC (CEG) strives to innovate with the help of only the finest technology available. Call us at 610-705-4500 or email info@cedarvilleeng.com to find out more.

By: J. Auerbach

Address: CEDARVILLE Engineering Group, LLC 159 E. High Street, Suite 500 Pottstown, PA 19464 Phone: 610-705-4500 Fax: 610-705-4900 info@cedarvilleeng.com

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Engineering is a very versatile industry that is always getting creative. Using creativity and innovation, engineers create never-before-seen products that benefit their communities. They play a key role in expanding local economy and sparking business exchanges. However, one question remains: how do engineers innovate in such a fast-paced environment?

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Many new industries are employing 3D scanning not only to create 3D models of parts or products for reverse engineering but also to explore the composition and rapid production of ready-to-use parts via 3D printing.

Even as the tools for extracting information from objects grow more sophisticated, there is still a lack of consensus as to what exactly constitutes "reverse engineering." In the simplest terms, reverse engineering is the process of measuring precise 3D dimensions of an existing object and converting that information to a 3D CAD model.

Reverse engineering's steady growth is due to a number of factors. Companies are still using equipment from suppliers that are no longer in business or that have stopped supporting earlier models. When that equipment needs replacement components, reverse engineering offers a way to recreate those parts. The military has some of the largest needs in this regard because they are often making do with aircraft and machinery that has passed its original use-of-life estimate and is lacking specific technical data. Reverse engineering parts and systems enable aircraft to keep flying or machines to keep running.

In a similar scenario (recently evident in the fracking industry), companies have sometimes been required to purchase specific parts, which were patented, and those patents have now expired. Low-cost replacement parts can be generated through reverse engineering.

Yet another factor in the growth of reverse engineering has been the high number of mergers and acquisitions over the past decade. The acquiring company often finds that smaller companies have not updated their CAD drawings to match tooling or that many of the parts being manufactured were made in a pre-CAD period. Top companies want to keep tight process control, which means having accurate CAD models within their product lifecycle management system.

Plants and factories are also now utilizing larger-scale 3D scanning. Many petro chemical manufacturing plants stacks only shut down for three months every seven years. For every day they go past the 90-day downtime mark the cost is several million dollars. By utilizing different scanning technology they can model existing structures/piping/equipment. This saves time and money by allowing the supplier to know how they are going to move multi-ton equipment to upper floors and ensures that when new equipment is in place the existing piping will attach correctly.

Architects are also starting to embrace reverse engineering of structures. When purchasing older buildings to be renovated or a new shop in a mall, having precise dimensions of windows, doors, HVAC, piping saves tremendous time and ensures minimal rework or expensive misfits.
Purchasing
When thinking about 3D scanning purchase options it is important to ascertain your reverse engineering needs. More than one measurement tool may be needed in your tool box, as well as a knowledgeable staff to operate the equipment and software.

Typical prices for 3D scanners range from $10,000 to $500,000. The pricing of a product is closely tied to the accuracy of the data it collects. Verifying accuracy claims of scanning systems can be challenging. One way to accomplish this is to have a reference part that has been measured on a CMM or other reliable source. Data about the part obtained from other tools can then be compared with the established measurement for accuracy.
Outsourcing
If you decide to outsource, you'll want to obtain quotes from one or more service providers. One way you can make the quoting process easier is to know why a part needs to be reverse engineered. Knowing how the data will be used will help your provider determine: 1. the specific information that is needed and 2. the best tool for obtaining it. Some other things to consider before seeking quotes: How accurate does the scan need to be? If your part is a gas turbine blade then you are going to need sub .001" accuracy. If it is a consumer product less accuracy of greater than .001" is probably fine. A service provider with experienced engineers should be able to guide you and make recommendations.

Other questions to ask potential service providers: How many years of experience do they have? Can services be performed at the client's site? Have they completed similar projects in your industry? What services do they provide beyond gathering the measurement data? For example, it is becoming more common for clients to want 2D drawings and full metallurgical information in addition to 3D CAD models. Does your provider include that information in their services package?

The final important question is: what file format is required? Items being duplicated exactly can be achieved with an IGES, STEP, or Parasolid model. If the model needs to be easily modified a native CAD model with full feature tree will be a better option. Determining the file format ahead of time should make the quoting experience easier.

The Four Steps of Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering can be broken down to four steps:
Measurement
Data collection can be achieved with both contact and noncontact methods. A 3D non-contact scanner collects data at a rate of several thousand points per second to record the size and shape of an object. As it moves, the scanner creates a "point cloud" of geometric samples from the object's surface, which defines its various surface shapes, contours and dimensions. The point cloud can then be converted to a CAD-friendly format to create a 3D replication of the object.

You will likely want to opt for a high-speed, noncontact scanner if the product you're measuring: 1) has a complex geometry and/or the entire surface area needs to be measured, 2) is fragile or prone to damage, or 3) has a shape might be altered by contact, as in the case of soft or compressible objects. If you need to measure the internal features on a closed product, then a CT scan is required.

Below are some of the major categories of noncontact 3D scanning technologies:

Handheld laser scanning involves a portable, noncontact laser scanning device. A handheld scanner can capture an object's 3D coordinates, or data points, rapidly and with a high degree

of resolution and accuracy. It uses a laser stripe sensor, mounted on a portable localizer to capture lines of points as it sweeps across the surface. This quickly builds into a cloud of points defining the complete surface of the object being scanned. One advantage to these scanners is their versatility-a handheld scanner is capable of capturing 3D measurements from objects of almost any size or shape in almost any environment

Computed Tomography (CT) scanning utilizes X-rays to produce 3D representations of both internal and external surfaces. It is fast, accurate, non-invasive and nondestructive. Its ability to capture internal geometry makes CT scanning a good choice when measurement requirements exceed the capabilities of line of sight scanning technology.

Long Range scanners are known as time-of-flight scanners and laser phase shift systems. Long-Range scanning is used when large-scale data capture is needed as in the case of factories, power plants, buildings, or roads and bridges. By rotating the laser and sensor (usually via a mirror), the scanner can scan up to a full 360 degrees around itself. By modulating the power of the laser beam, the scanner compares the phase of the laser being sent out and then returned to the sensor, creating measurements which are extremely precise.

Structured Light Scanning uses white or blue light to create a series of reference patterns on an object. With each shot at different angles to the object being measured, the scanner captures data points in greater density and then stitches the different patches together, usually with pre-mounted stickers. Since the data points are denser and closer together, the object's geometry is captured in greater detail. To stitch together multiple scans, reference stickers are often used or photogrammetry is employed. This type of scanning is a good choice for measuring intricate, detailed parts.
Processing
Noncontact scanning produces point clouds of data, which need to be converted into a form compatible with CAD software. There are specialized reverse engineering software programs to convert large point clouds into a triangulated STL (StereoLithography) polygonal file, in which the data is seen as a raw triangulated surface mesh. This STL file is the format used by rapid prototyping systems to grow parts
Modeling and Validating
A solid model will be constructed from the STL data by using standard tools such as extrudes, lofts, sweeps, and revolves. A solid model allows you to see your part in real, 3D space and view it from any angle.

If your application requires a true parametric model (a model that is fully modifiable in CAD software), the model will need to be completed in SolidWorks, Inventor, CATIA, NX, or Pro E/CREO. A parametric model contains a full feature tree, which means that you can make changes to any feature of the model and every related dimension will update accordingly.

The use of 3D scanning for reverse engineering continues to grow for a very good reason: it provides an unprecedented opportunity for excellence. In the constant journey to improved quality, earlier measurement tools were paper maps-3D scanning is GPS.

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Reverse Engineering Continues to Expand its Role in Industry

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Many new industries are employing 3D scanning not only to create 3D models of parts or products for reverse engineering but also to explore the composition and rapid production of ready-to-use parts via 3D printing. Even as the tools for extracting information from objects grow more sophisticated, there is still a lack of consensus as to what exactly constitutes "reverse engineering."

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, Site Validation Engineer at iFluids Engineering

Published on

Plant reverse Engineering
for Engineering Design, Construction, Installation and Maintenance
and turn around for Plant & Equipments

1. 1. Plant Reverse Engineering For Design, Construction, Installation and maintenance Reverse Engineering is often a necessary process to revamp a plant or an equipment that were built in the pre-computer era. There are several techniques that can be employed for performing plant reverse engineering, for instance scanning 2D paper drawings or the asset itself and then converting the data into a digital model that can be manipulated further. Dassault Systèmes (DS)' Plant Reverse Engineering solution, supported by the CATIA brand, provides a way to easily capitalize your asset information through reverse engineering and thus enables the reconciliation of As-Designed and As-Is information. Cloud of points and 2D drawings, which are captured by a scanner, can be imported into the system and converted into a 3D model. The 3D model facilitates the virtual inspection of the plant and can be used to study the impact of a new equipment installation or removal. Even when a digital model of the asset exist, there is often a need to convert the data from one format to another. DS Plant Reverse Engineering solution also supports the conversion of 3D models from other systems such as Autodesk, AVEVA, Bentley and Integraph. The solution also provides dedicated applications for plant design such as piping and tubing which covers the entire process from design to manufacturing planning. Plant Reverse Engineering solution includes: * 2D drawing management * Reverse engineering * Piping and tubing design * Clash analysis * Multi-CAD management Plant Design Reverse Engineering AVEVA Laser Modeller™ - NEW! Turn 3D laser scan surveys into intelligent plant models As-built plant information is often inaccurate, incomplete and hard to use. AVEVA Laser Modeller overcomes these problems by using laser scan data to reverse-engineer intelligent, accurate as-built 3D plant models, rapidly and at low cost.

2. 2. Modelling pipework with AVEVA Laser Modeller Creating a nozzle Overview For many plant Owner Operators, available as drawings and photographs; incomplete, inaccurate as-built design to exist as an accurate 3D model but, until now, the cost and timescale of reverse-engineering has been prohibitive. AVEVA Laser Modeller answers this need. It makes brownfield information truly evergreen, by using laser scan data to create validated and low cost. Laser Modeller works with scan data from all the leading 3D laser sc You can learn more about Laser Modeller's unique features by selecting from the drop above. User Workspace VEVA Laser Modeller features an easy to use, intuitive user interface and workspace, enabling the user to visualise many different kinds of data simultaneously. From the same place, the user can view: Modelling pipework with AVEVA Laser Modeller Reverse engineering with AVEVA Laser Modeller ting a nozzle - detail Modelling steelwork with AVEVA Laser Modeller For many plant Owner Operators, available as-built information is often in the form of paper incomplete, inaccurate and hard to use. Ideally, one would like the built design to exist as an accurate 3D model but, until now, the cost and timescale of engineering has been prohibitive. odeller answers this need. It makes brownfield information truly evergreen, by using laser scan data to create validated and intelligent as-built 3D plant models, rapidly and Laser Modeller works with scan data from all the leading 3D laser scanning systems. You can learn more about Laser Modeller's unique features by selecting from the drop es an easy to use, intuitive user interface and workspace, enabling the user to visualise many different kinds of data simultaneously. From the same place, the user Reverse engineering with AVEVA Laser Modeller Modelling steelwork with AVEVA Laser Modeller e form of paper hard to use. Ideally, one would like the built design to exist as an accurate 3D model but, until now, the cost and timescale of odeller answers this need. It makes brownfield information truly evergreen, by built 3D plant models, rapidly and at anning systems. You can learn more about Laser Modeller's unique features by selecting from the drop-down es an easy to use, intuitive user interface and workspace, enabling the user to visualise many different kinds of data simultaneously. From the same place, the user

3. 3. * 3D laser model data * Panoramic laser scan images * Intelligent, as-built 3D model and associated database hierarchy * Site plans with overlaid laser scan location Access to multiple data views enables the user to better understand the relationship between the laser scan data and the design data, and supports better decision making in the 3D modelling process. Intelligent 3D model creation Laser Modeller generates an intelligent, as-built 3D model, directly from laser scan data, using the modelling capabilities within the catalogue elements of AVEVA's market-leading PDMS 3D design solution. It extensively automates the 3D model generation process. Unlike other available technologies there is no need, for example, to create intermediate geometry and then remodel this separately into 3D model data. Laser Modeller automatically selects the appropriate intelligent items from the PDMS catalogue including: * Piping * Steelwork * Equipment If necessary, services are available to extend or fine-tune the component catalogues to meet the needs of a client's particular engineering conventions or site-specific requirements. The resulting intelligent 3D model accurately reflects the as-built facility and can form the basis of a common digital infrastructure for managing and maintaining the asset. Editing and Manipulation Within the user workspace, AVEVA Laser Modeller provides familiar functions for editing and manipulating the generated 3D model. These include: * Extend * Intersect * Rotate * Mark up * Annotate These capabilities enable the relationship between the as-built and design information to be refined and optimised, maximising the value of the 3D model as a collaborative plant information resource. Services and Solutions Laser Modeller can be deployed as a stand-alone product or as part of an enterprise solution comprising other AVEVA products.

4. 4. AVEVA can provide specialist services to accommodate wide variations in customers' engineering work processes and data structures, and to deliver tailored deployments appropriate to individual operational environments. Reverse Engineering Reverse Engineering Overview w | Reverse Engineering Services Engineering Application & Design Reverse Engineering Overview In general, Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of taking something (a device, component, an electrical component, a software program, etc.) apart and analyzing its workings or geometry in detail, usually with the intention to construct a new device, component or program that does the same thing without actually copying anything from the original. Reverse engineering is a often used by military, in order to copy other nations' technology, parts of which have been obtained by intelligence operations. It was often used during the Second World War and Cold War. Reverse engineering software or hardware systems for the purposes of interoperability, for example in order to support undocumented file formats or hardware peripherals, is mostly believed to be legal, though patent owners often aggressively pursue their patents. Coordinate-measuring machines (CMM) can be used to digitize a component and the information can be utilized in computer-aided modeling. New and improved techniques in reverse engineering include 3D laser scanning which, as the name implies, uses laser beams to scan across the surface of components of any shape and display the results in real time. Reverse Engineering Services You can count on Creaform's expertise in reverse engineering if you need to generate 3D CAD models from existing objects, whether to determine the original design intent, to modernize manufacturing processes or to design a new part to fit to a legacy part, for instance. * Parametric 3D modeling in generic and native formats * Surface reconstruction * Hybrid reconstruction * Reconstruction from 3D scanning data, probing, 2D drawings, sketches, etc. * Design modification from actual objects * Data preparation for digital simulation * 3D modeling of objects, no matter their size Equalize Offering services for Reverse Engineering Service, 3D white light scanning, scanner, rapid prototyping model, reverse, mould making, 3D scanning, , CAD conversion services. We are offering excellent range of Reverse Engineering Services for designing and development. We can offer you with:

5. 5. · 3D Laser Scanning and CMM Inspection · Capture an object's original design intent in CAD · 3D Scan to CAD conversion * 3D Modelling for performance surfaces * Redesigning of a product without manufacturing defects * Manufacturing drawings for production/prototyping Take advantage of the experience of Equalize's reverse engineering team to help you: * Obtain CAD data that captures an object's original design intent * Design a new part to fit to a legacy part * Accurately model performance surfaces * Update CAD models of your tooling to match shop-floor changes * Redesign a part without manufacturing defects * Modernize your manufacturing process 3D Laser Scanning Review Quality and Inspection Process Knowledge Quality and Inspection Services | 3D Laser Scanning Services 3D Laser Scanning Instruments 3D Laser Scanning Review, which is also known as 3D Digitizing, is a inspection / engineering process, which by the use of specialized 3D laser equipment uses laser light to digitize a 3D physical object. The 3D laser equipment uses laser triangulation, which can produce a accurate digitizes object. Laser triangulation is a stereoscopic method where the distance of the object calculated by a directional light source and a video camera. A laser beam is deflected from a mirror onto the object being scanned or digitized. The object surface scatters the light, which is then collected by a video camera located at a known distance from the laser source. Using algebraic equations, the object 3D coordinates (X,Y,Z) of the surface being scanned is calculated. Many 3D data points are collected and stored as a cloud of points which represent the scanned object. By use of special software, the data or cloud of points are processed into a surface representation of the object which has been 3D laser scanned. * 3D Laser Scanning Limitations * Laser Scanning Applications * Reverse Engineering Method Using Advanced 3D Laser Scanner .Service & Spares Reverse Engineering Focused in customer needs, Ruhrpumpen now has the capability to develop reverse engineering, where we expand our offering by not only serving and rerating our pumps. This program consists in developing spare parts from discontinued pump models in order not to invest in a brand new pump just because spare parts are no longer available.

6. 6. Ruhrpumpen REAP (Reverse Engineering Aftermarket Parts) Division is a unique and highly trained group that utilizes Faro Arms (Edge model) and always the latest Solid Modeling softwares. The division consists of engineering and modeling experts who offer various levels of expertise in the Reverse Engineering field. Our combined experience of 37 years in the pump / Reverse Engineering field., is able to manage and offer: * Casting projects ensuring quality with pattern inspections. * First article casting inspections, and finish machining checks. * On-site reverse engineering services during maintenance outages, so if needed, the part never leaves the plant. Ruhrpumpen field service engineers will mobilize immediately to ensure your downtime is as short as possible. Available for worldwide assignments, our senior engineers and field service specialists will review your equipment failure and in special occasions they can dispatch their expertise within 24 hours. Experience includes: About Field Service * Cryogenic: From LOX / LIN pumps and turbines in Louisiana, USA and Nanjing, China to Dense fluid Expanders in Saudi Arabia. Recognized worldwide as simply the best commissioning support and field service period! * Utility Power & CO-GEN - Raw water supply to high volume circulating cooling, to HP vacuum condensate pumps. * Oilfields - on site analysis and repair of offshore rig water firewater pumps * Pulp & Paper - Shower pump failure? Not to worry, Ruhrpumpen will complete your emergency overhaul on-site and under time * Airline refueling - performance upgrading completed on-site * Marine - for on-site repairs of firewater pumps * Hydro power - Vertical turbine commissioning and repair * Refinery & Pipeline - On site repair of multi-stage boosters * Chemical - On site analysis, repair and rebuild of propylene transfer pumps Portable 3D scanners: Handyscan 3D

7. 7. The Handyscan 3D scanners stand out as the most accurate portable 3D scanners on the market today. Because we know that you are serious about your work, we have developed an extensive line of handheld 3D scanners that will work wherever you need them to. Our scanners feature the TRUaccuracy technology, that guarantees accuracy no matter the environment, part set-up or the user's level of experience. Thousands of units later, our 3D laser scanners are living up to their reputation of reliability and versatility. Serious work. Serious technology. Introducing the Handyscan 3D scanners. REVscan EXAscan VIUscan MAXscan REVscan Looking for the most efficient way to reverse engineer and/or design? The REVscan will prove to be a reliable tool that will help you get there. EXAscan The EXAscan offers increased accuracy and resolution. It is the most versatile 3D scanner on the market for inspection and demanding reverse engineering. MAXscan The MAXscan is the obvious choice for 3D scanning of larger parts. It features the Handyscan 3D high-accuracy, enhanced with photogrammetry capabilities. VIUscan Need high-resolution 3D colour data and shape? The VIUscan will capture every detail and deliver hyperrealistic results.

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Site Validation Engineer at iFluids Engineering Published on Plant reverse Engineering for Engineering Design, Construction, Installation and Maintenance and turn around for Plant & Equipments 1. Plant Reverse Engineering For Design, Construction, Installation and maintenance Reverse Engineering is often a necessary process to revamp a plant or an equipment that were built in the pre-computer era.

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Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accomplishes a task with very little (if any) insight into exactly how it does so. It is essentially the process of opening up or dissecting a system to see how it works, in order to duplicate or enhance it. Depending on the system under consideration and the technologies employed, the knowledge gained during reverse engineering can help with repurposing obsolete objects, doing security analysis, or learning how something works.

Although the process is specific to the object on which it is being performed, all reverse engineering processes consist of three basic steps: Information extraction, Modeling, and Review. Information extraction refers to the practice of gathering all relevant information for performing the operation. Modeling refers to the practice of combining the gathered information into an abstract model, which can be used as a guide for designing the new object or system. Review refers to the testing of the model to ensure the validity of the chosen abstract. Reverse engineering is applicable in the fields of computer engineering, mechanical engineering, design, electronic engineering, software engineering, chemical engineering, and systems biology.

There are many reasons for performing reverse engineering in various fields. Reverse engineering has its origins in the analysis of hardware for commercial or military advantage. However, the reverse engineering process may not always be concerned with creating a copy or changing the artifact in some way. It may be used as part of an analysis to deduce design features from products with little or no additional knowledge about the procedures involved in their original production.

In some cases, the goal of the reverse engineering process can simply be a redocumentation of legacy systems. Even when the reverse-engineered product is that of a competitor, the goal may not be to copy it but to perform competitor analysis. Reverse engineering may also be used to create interoperable products and despite some narrowly-tailored United States and European Union legislation, the legality of using specific reverse engineering techniques for that purpose has been hotly contested in courts worldwide for more than two decades.

Software reverse engineering can help to improve the understanding of the underlying source code for the maintenance and improvement of the software, relevant information can be extracted to make a decision for software development and graphical representations of the code can provide alternate views regarding the source code, which can help to detect and fix a software bug or vulnerability. Frequently, as some software develops, its design information and improvements are often lost over time, but that lost information can usually be recovered with reverse engineering. The process can also help to cut down the time required to understand the source code, thus reducing the overall cost of the software development. Reverse engineering can also help to detect and to eliminate a malicious code written to the software with better code detectors. Reversing a source code can be used to find alternate uses of the source code, such as detecting the unauthorized replication of the source code where it was not intended to be used, or revealing how a competitor's product was built. That process is commonly used for "cracking" software and media to remove their copy protection, or to create a possibly-improved copy or even a knockoff, which is usually the goal of a competitor or a hacker.

Malware developers often use reverse engineering techniques to find vulnerabilities in an operating system to build a computer virus that can exploit the system vulnerabilities. Reverse engineering is also being used in cryptanalysis to find vulnerabilities in substitution cipher, symmetric-key algorithm or public-key cryptography.

There are other uses to reverse engineering:

Interfacing. Reverse engineering can be used when a system is required to interface to another system and how both systems would negotiate is to be established. Such requirements typically exist for interoperability.

Military or commercial espionage. Learning about an enemy's or competitor's latest research by stealing or capturing a prototype and dismantling it may result in the development of a similar product or a better countermeasure against it.

Obsolescence. Integrated circuits are often designed on proprietary systems and built on production lines, which become obsolete in only a few years. When systems using those parts can no longer be maintained since the parts are no longer made, the only way to incorporate the functionality into new technology is to reverse-engineer the existing chip and then to redesign it using newer tools by using the understanding gained as a guide. Another obsolescence originated problem that can be solved by reverse engineering is the need to support (maintenance and supply for continuous operation) existing legacy devices that are no longer supported by their original equipment manufacturer. The problem is particularly critical in military operations.

Product security analysis. That examines how a product works by determining the specifications of its components and estimate costs and identifies potential patent infringement. Also part of product security analysis is acquiring sensitive data by disassembling and analyzing the design of a system component. Another intent may be to remove copy protection or to circumvent access restrictions.

Competitive technical intelligence. That is to understand what one's competitor is actually doing, rather than what it says that it is doing.

Saving money. Finding out what a piece of electronics can do may spare a user from purchasing a separate product.

Repurposing. Obsolete objects are then reused in a different-but-useful manner.

. Production and design companies applied Reverse Engineering to practical craft-based manufacturing process. The companies can work on "historical" manufacturing collections through 3D scanning, 3D re-modeling and re-design. In 2013 Italian manufactures Baldi and Savio Firmino together with University of Florence optimized their innovation, design, and production processes.

As computer-aided design (CAD) has become more popular, reverse engineering has become a viable method to create a 3D virtual model of an existing physical part for use in 3D CAD, CAM, CAE, or other software. The reverse-engineering process involves measuring an object and then reconstructing it as a 3D model. The physical object can be measured using 3D scanning technologies like CMMs, laser scanners, structured light digitizers, or industrial CT scanning (computed tomography). The measured data alone, usually represented as a point cloud, lacks topological information and design intent. The former may be recovered by converting the point cloud to a triangular-faced mesh. Reverse engineering aims to go beyond producing such a mesh and to recover the design intent in terms of simple analytical surfaces where appropriate (planes, cylinders, etc.) as well as possibly NURBS surfaces to produce a boundary-representation CAD model. Recovery of such a model allows a design to be modified to meet new requirements, a manufacturing plan to be generated, etc.

Hybrid modeling is a commonly used term when NURBS and parametric modeling are implemented together. Using a combination of geometric and freeform surfaces can provide a powerful method of 3D modeling. Areas of freeform data can be combined with exact geometric surfaces to create a hybrid model. A typical example of this would be the reverse engineering of a cylinder head, which includes freeform cast features, such as water jackets and high-tolerance machined areas.

Reverse engineering is also used by businesses to bring existing physical geometry into digital product development environments, to make a digital 3D record of their own products, or to assess competitors' products. It is used to analyze how a product works, what it does, what components it has; estimate costs; identify potential patent infringement; etc.

Value engineering, a related activity that is also used by businesses, involves deconstructing and analyzing products. However, the objective is to find opportunities for cost-cutting.

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Reverse engineering of printed circuit boards involves recreating fabrication data for a particular circuit board. This is done to allow benchmarking, and support for legacy systems.

In 1990, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) defined (software) reverse engineering (SRE) as "the process of analyzing a subject system to identify the system's components and their interrelationships and to create representations of the system in another form or at a higher level of abstraction" in which the "subject system" is the end product of software development. Reverse engineering is a process of examination only, and the software system under consideration is not modified, which would otherwise be re-engineering or restructuring. Reverse engineering can be performed from any stage of the product cycle, not necessarily from the functional end product.

There are two components in reverse engineering: redocumentation and design recovery. Redocumentation is the creation of new representation of the computer code so that it is easier to understand. Meanwhile, design recovery is the use of deduction or reasoning from general knowledge or personal experience of the product to understand the product's functionality fully. It can also be seen as "going backwards through the development cycle". In this model, the output of the implementation phase (in source code form) is reverse-engineered back to the analysis phase, in an inversion of the traditional waterfall model. Another term for this technique is program comprehension. The Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE) has been held yearly to explore and expand the techniques of reverse engineering. Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) and automated code generation have contributed greatly in the field of reverse engineering.

Software anti-tamper technology like obfuscation is used to deter both reverse engineering and re-engineering of proprietary software and software-powered systems. In practice, two main types of reverse engineering emerge. In the first case, source code is already available for the software, but higher-level aspects of the program, which are perhaps poorly documented or documented but no longer valid, are discovered. In the second case, there is no source code available for the software, and any efforts towards discovering one possible source code for the software are regarded as reverse engineering. The second usage of the term is more familiar to most people. Reverse engineering of software can make use of the clean room design technique to avoid copyright infringement.

On a related note, black box testing in software engineering has a lot in common with reverse engineering. The tester usually has the API but has the goals to find bugs and undocumented features by bashing the product from outside.

Other purposes of reverse engineering include security auditing, removal of copy protection (" cracking"), circumvention of access restrictions often present in consumer electronics, customization of embedded systems (such as engine management systems), in-house repairs or retrofits, enabling of additional features on low-cost "crippled" hardware (such as some graphics card chip-sets), or even mere satisfaction of curiosity.

Binary software

Binary reverse engineering is performed if source code for a software is unavailable. This process is sometimes termed reverse code engineering, or RCE. For example, decompilation of binaries for the Java platform can be accomplished by using Jad. One famous case of reverse engineering was the first non- IBM implementation of the PC BIOS, which launched the historic IBM PC compatible industry that has been the overwhelmingly-dominant computer hardware platform for many years. Reverse engineering of software is protected in the US by the fair use exception in copyright law. The Samba software, which allows systems that do not run Microsoft Windows systems to share files with systems that run it, is a classic example of software reverse engineering since the Samba project had to reverse-engineer unpublished information about how Windows file sharing worked so that non-Windows computers could emulate it. The Wine project does the same thing for the Windows API, and OpenOffice.org is one party doing that for the Microsoft Office file formats. The ReactOS project is even more ambitious in its goals by striving to provide binary (ABI and API) compatibility with the current Windows operating systems of the NT branch, which allows software and drivers written for Windows to run on a clean-room reverse-engineered free software ( GPL) counterpart. WindowsSCOPE allows for reverse-engineering the full contents of a Windows system's live memory including a binary-level, graphical reverse engineering of all running processes.

Another classic, if not well-known, example is that in 1987 Bell Laboratories reverse-engineered the Mac OS System 4.1, originally running on the Apple Macintosh SE, so that it could run it on RISC machines of their own.

Binary software techniques

Reverse engineering of software can be accomplished by various methods. The three main groups of software reverse engineering are

1. Analysis through observation of information exchange, most prevalent in protocol reverse engineering, which involves using bus analyzers and packet sniffers, such as for accessing a computer bus or computer network connection and revealing the traffic data thereon. Bus or network behavior can then be analyzed to produce a standalone implementation that mimics that behavior. That is especially useful for reverse engineering device drivers. Sometimes, reverse engineering on embedded systems is greatly assisted by tools deliberately introduced by the manufacturer, such as JTAG ports or other debugging means. In Microsoft Windows, low-level debuggers such as SoftICE are popular.

2. Disassembly using a disassembler, meaning the raw machine language of the program is read and understood in its own terms, only with the aid of machine-language mnemonics. It works on any computer program but can take quite some time, especially for those who are not used to machine code. The Interactive Disassembler is a particularly popular tool.

3. Decompilation using a decompiler, a process that tries, with varying results, to recreate the source code in some high-level language for a program only available in machine code or bytecode.

Software classification

Software classification is the process of identifying similarities between different software binaries (such as two different versions of the same binary) used to detect code relations between software samples. The task was traditionally done manually for several reasons (such as patch analysis for vulnerability detection and copyright infringement), but it can now be done somewhat automatically for large numbers of samples.

This method is being used mostly for long and thorough reverse engineering tasks (complete analysis of a complex algorithm or big piece of software). In general, statistical classification is considered to be a hard problem, which is also true for software classification, and so few solutions/tools that handle this task well.

A number of UML tools refer to the process of importing and analysing source code to generate UML diagrams as "reverse engineering". See List of UML tools.

Although UML is one approach in providing "reverse engineering" more recent advances in international standards activities have resulted in the development of the Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM). The standard delivers an ontology for the intermediate (or abstracted) representation of programming language constructs and their interrelationships. An Object Management Group standard (on its way to becoming an ISO standard as well),[citation needed ] KDM has started to take hold in industry with the development of tools and analysis environments that can deliver the extraction and analysis of source, binary, and byte code. For source code analysis, KDM's granular standards' architecture enables the extraction of software system flows (data, control, and call maps), architectures, and business layer knowledge (rules, terms, and process). The standard enables the use of a common data format (XMI) enabling the correlation of the various layers of system knowledge for either detailed analysis (such as root cause, impact) or derived analysis (such as business process extraction). Although efforts to represent language constructs can be never-ending because of the number of languages, the continuous evolution of software languages, and the development of new languages, the standard does allow for the use of extensions to support the broad language set as well as evolution. KDM is compatible with UML, BPMN, RDF, and other standards enabling migration into other environments and thus leverage system knowledge for efforts such as software system transformation and enterprise business layer analysis.

Protocols are sets of rules that describe message formats and how messages are exchanged: the protocol state machine. Accordingly, the problem of protocol reverse-engineering can be partitioned into two subproblems: message format and state-machine reverse-engineering.

The message formats have traditionally been reverse-engineered by a tedious manual process, which involved analysis of how protocol implementations process messages, but recent research proposed a number of automatic solutions. Typically, the automatic approaches group observe messages into clusters by using various clustering analyses, or they emulate the protocol implementation tracing the message processing.

There has been less work on reverse-engineering of state-machines of protocols. In general, the protocol state-machines can be learned either through a process of offline learning, which passively observes communication and attempts to build the most general state-machine accepting all observed sequences of messages, and online learning, which allows interactive generation of probing sequences of messages and listening to responses to those probing sequences. In general, offline learning of small state-machines is known to be NP-complete, but online learning can be done in polynomial time. An automatic offline approach has been demonstrated by Comparetti et al. and an online approach by Cho et al.

Other components of typical protocols, like encryption and hash functions, can be reverse-engineered automatically as well. Typically, the automatic approaches trace the execution of protocol implementations and try to detect buffers in memory holding unencrypted packets.

Integrated circuits/smart cards

Reverse engineering is an invasive and destructive form of analyzing a smart card. The attacker uses chemicals to etch away layer after layer of the smart card and takes pictures with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). That technique can reveal the complete hardware and software part of the smart card. The major problem for the attacker is to bring everything into the right order to find out how everything works. The makers of the card try to hide keys and operations by mixing up memory positions, such as by bus scrambling.

In some cases, it is even possible to attach a probe to measure voltages while the smart card is still operational. The makers of the card employ sensors to detect and prevent that attack. That attack is not very common because it requires both a large investment in effort and special equipment that is generally available only to large chip manufacturers. Furthermore, the payoff from this attack is low since other security techniques are often used such as shadow accounts. It is still uncertain whether attacks against chip-and-PIN cards to replicate encryption data and then to crack PINs would provide a cost-effective attack on multifactor authentication.

Full reverse engineering proceeds in several major steps.

The first step after images have been taken with a SEM is stitching the images together, which is necessary because each layer cannot be captured by a single shot. A SEM needs to sweep across the area of the circuit and take several hundred images to cover the entire layer. Image stitching takes as input several hundred pictures and outputs a single properly-overlapped picture of the complete layer.

Next, the stitched layers need to be aligned because the sample, after etching, cannot be put into the exact same position relative to the SEM each time. Therefore, the stitched versions will not overlap in the correct fashion, as on the real circuit. Usually, three corresponding points are selected, and a transformation applied on the basis of that.

To extract the circuit structure, the aligned, stitched images need to be segmented, which highlights the important circuitry and separates it from the uninteresting background and insulating materials.

Finally, the wires can be traced from one layer to the next, and the netlist of the circuit, which contains all of the circuit's information, can be reconstructed.

Reverse engineering is often used by people to copy other nations' technologies, devices, or information that have been obtained by regular troops in the fields or by intelligence operations. It was often used during the Second World War and the Cold War. Here are well-known examples from the Second World War and later:

Jerry can: British and American forces in WW2 noticed that the Germans had gasoline cans with an excellent design. They reverse-engineered copies of those cans, which cans were popularly known as "Jerry cans".

Panzerschreck: The Germans captured an American bazooka during the Second World War and reverse engineered it to create the larger Panzerschreck.

Tupolev Tu-4: In 1944, three American B-29 bombers on missions over Japan were forced to land in the Soviet Union. The Soviets, who did not have a similar strategic bomber, decided to copy the B-29. Within three years, they had developed the Tu-4, a nearly-perfect copy.

SCR-584 radar: copied by the Soviet Union after the Second World War, it is known for a few modifications - СЦР-584, Бинокль-Д.

V-2 rocket: Technical documents for the V-2 and related technologies were captured by the Western Allies at the end of the war. The Americans focused their reverse engineering efforts via Operation Paperclip, which led to the development of the PGM-11 Redstone rocket. The Soviets used captured German engineers to reproduce technical documents and plans and worked from captured hardware to make their clone of the rocket, the R-1. Thus began the postwar Soviet rocket program, which led to the R-7 and the beginning of the space race.

K-13/R-3S missile (NATO reporting name AA-2 Atoll), a Soviet reverse-engineered copy of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, was made possible after a Taiwanese (ROCAF) AIM-9B hit a Chinese PLA MiG-17 without exploding in September 1958. The missile became lodged within the airframe, and the pilot returned to base with what Soviet scientists would describe as a university course in missile development.

Toophan missile: In May 1975, negotiations between Iran and Hughes Missile Systems on co-production of the BGM-71 TOW and Maverick missiles stalled over disagreements in the pricing structure, the subsequent 1979 revolution ending all plans for such co-production. Iran was later successful in reverse-engineering the missile and now produces its own copy, the Toophan.

China has reversed engineered many examples of Western and Russian hardware, from fighter aircraft to missiles and HMMWV cars, such as the MiG-15,17,19,21 (which became the J-2,5,6,7) and the Su-33 (which became the J-15). More recent analyses of China's military growth have pointed to the inherent limitations of habitual reverse engineering for advanced weapon systems.

During the Second World War, Polish and British cryptographers studied captured German "Enigma" message encryption machines for weaknesses. Their operation was then simulated on electromechanical devices, "bombes", which tried all the possible scrambler settings of the "Enigma" machines that helped the breaking of coded messages that had been sent by the Germans.

Also during the Second World War, British scientists analyzed and defeated a series of increasingly-sophisticated radio navigation systems used by the Luftwaffe to perform guided bombing missions at night. The British countermeasures to the system were so effective that in some cases, German aircraft were led by signals to land at RAF bases since they believed that they had returned to German territory.

Reverse engineering concepts have been applied to biology as well, specifically to the task of understanding the structure and function of gene regulatory networks. They regulate almost every aspect of biological behavior and allow cells to carry out physiological processes and responses to perturbations. Understanding the structure and the dynamic behavior of gene networks is therefore one of the paramount challenges of systems biology, with immediate practical repercussions in several applications that are beyond basic research. There are several methods for reverse engineering gene regulatory networks by using molecular biology and data science methods. They have been generally divided into six classes:

The six classes of gene network inference methods, according to[39]

Coexpression methods are based on the notion that if two genes exhibit a similar expression profile, they may be related although no causation can be simply inferred from coexpression.

Sequence motif methods analyze gene promoters to find specific transcription factor binding domains. If a transcription factor is predicted to bind a promoter of a specific gene, a regulatory connection can be hypothesized.

Chromatin ImmunoPrecipitation (ChIP) methods investigate the genome-wide profile of DNA binding of chosen transcription factors to infer their downstream gene networks.

Orthology methods transfer gene network knowledge from one species to another.

Literature methods implement text mining and manual research to identify putative or experimentally-proven gene network connections.

Transcriptional complexes methods leverage information on protein-protein interactions between transcription factors, thus extending the concept of gene networks to include transcriptional regulatory complexes.

Often, gene network reliability is tested by genetic perturbation experiments followed by dynamic modelling, based on the principle that removing one network node has predictable effects on the functioning of the remaining nodes of the network. Applications of the reverse engineering of gene networks range from understanding mechanisms of plant physiology to the highlighting of new targets for anticancer therapy.

Reverse engineering applies primarily to gaining understanding of a process or artifact in which the manner of its construction, use, or internal processes has not been made clear by its creator.

Patented items do not of themselves have to be reverse-engineered to be studied, for the essence of a patent is that inventors provide a detailed public disclosure themselves, and in return receive legal protection of the invention that is involved. However, an item produced under one or more patents could also include other technology that is not patented and not disclosed. Indeed, one common motivation of reverse engineering is to determine whether a competitor's product contains patent infringement or copyright infringement.

In the United States, even if an artifact or process is protected by trade secrets, reverse-engineering the artifact or process is often lawful if it has been legitimately obtained.

Reverse engineering of computer software often falls under both contract law as a breach of contract as well as any other relevant laws. That is because most end-user license agreements specifically prohibit it, and US courts have ruled that if such terms are present, they override the copyright law that expressly permits it (see Bowers v. Baystate Technologies). According to Section 103(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( 17 U.S.C. § 1201 (f)), a person in legal possession of a program may reverse-engineer and circumvent its protection if that is necessary to achieve "interoperability", a term that broadly covers other devices and programs that can interact with it, make use of it, and to use and transfer data to and from it in useful ways. A limited exemption exists that allows the knowledge thus gained to be shared and used for interoperability purposes.

EU Directive 2009/24 on the legal protection of computer programs, which superseded an earlier (1991) directive, governs reverse engineering in the European Union.

Eilam, Eldad (2005). Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering. Wiley Publishing. p. 595. ISBN 978-0-7645-7481-8.

Elvidge, Julia, "Using Reverse Engineering to Discover Patent Infringement," Chipworks, Sept. 2010. Online: http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=44063

Cipresso, Teodoro (2009). "Software Reverse Engineering Education". SJSU Master's Thesis.

Hausi A. Müller and Holger M. Kienle, "A Small Primer on Software Reverse Engineering," Technical Report, University of Victoria, 17 pages, March 2009. Online: http://holgerkienle.wikispaces.com/file/view/MK-UVic-09.pdf

Heines, Henry, "Determining Infringement by X-Ray Diffraction," Chemical Engineering Process, Jan. 1999 (example of reverse engineering used to detect IP infringement)

Huang, Andrew (2003). Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering. No Starch Press. ISBN 978-1593270292.

James, Dick (January 19, 2006). "Reverse Engineering Delivers Product Knowledge; Aids Technology Spread". Electronic Design. Penton Media, Inc.

Messler, Robert (2013). Reverse Engineering: Mechanisms, Structures, Systems & Materials. McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0071825160. (introduction to hardware teardowns, including methodology, goals)

Raja, Vinesh; Fernandes, Kiran J. (2008). Reverse Engineering - An Industrial Perspective. Springer. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-84628-855-5.

Reverse Engineering for Beginners

Samuelson, Pamela and Scotchmer, Suzanne, "The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering," 111 Yale L.J. 1575 (2002). Online: http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~pam/papers/l&e%20reveng3.pdf

Schulman, Andrew; Brown, Ralf D.; Maxey, David; Michels, Raymond J.; Kyle, Jim (1994) [November 1993]. Undocumented DOS: A programmer's guide to reserved MS-DOS functions and data structures - expanded to include MS-DOS 6, Novell DOS and Windows 3.1 (2 ed.). Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley. pp. 229-241. ISBN 0-201-63287-X. (xviii+856+vi pages, 3.5"-floppy) Errata: [1][2] (NB. On general methodology of reverse engineering, applied to mass-market software: a program for exploring DOS, disassembling DOS.)

Schulman, Andrew; et al. (1992). Undocumented Windows: A Programmer's Guide to Reserved Microsoft Windows API Functions. Addison Wesley. ISBN 978-0-201-60834-2. (pp. 59-188 on general methodology of reverse engineering, applied to mass-market software: examining Windows executables, disassembling Windows, tools for exploring Windows)

Schulman, Andrew, "Hiding in Plain Sight: Using Reverse Engineering to Uncover Software Patent Infringement," Intellectual Property Today, Nov. 2010. Online: http://www.iptoday.com/issues/2010/11/hiding-in-plain-sight-using-reverse-engineering-to-uncover-software-patent-infringement.asp

Schulman, Andrew, "Open to Inspection: Using Reverse Engineering to Uncover Software Prior Art," New Matter (Calif. State Bar IP Section), Summer 2011 (Part 1); Fall 2011 (Part 2). Online: http://www.SoftwareLitigationConsulting.com

Thumm, Mike (2007). "Talking Tactics" (PDF). IEEE 2007 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC). IEEE, Inc.

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Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accomplishes a task with very little (if any) insight into exactly how it does so.