Reverse engineering is the process of recreation of procedures and technical documentation for and existing object. This necessity is usually present when there is a little or no information at all available, except the initial object itself.

3D laser scanning in reverse engineering is the most effective way to create an exact digital equivalent of a scanned item into form of point cloud data. Modern 3D laser scanners are capable of capturing all information on object’s geometry with an accuracy of 2mm (terrestrial scanners) and 0.5mm (handheld devices).

The resulting 3D geometry of the object, first of all, is the basis for creating a parametric 3D CAD model, which is necessary for further analysis, re-design or replication.