A fast interactive reverse-engineering system

A new method of reverse engineering for fast, simple and interactive acquisition and reconstruction of a virtual three-dimensional (3D) model is presented. We propose an active stereo acquisition system, which makes use of two infrared cameras and a wireless active-pen device, supported by a reconstruction method based on subdivision surfaces. In the 3D interactive hand sketching process the user draws and refines the 3D style-curves, which characterize the shape to be constructed, by simply dragging the active-pen device; then the system automatically produces a low-resolution mesh that is naturally refined through subdivision surfaces. Several examples demonstrate the ability of the proposed advanced design methodology to produce complex 3D geometric models by the interactive and iterative process that provides the user with a real-time visual feedback on the ongoing work.