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                            Funding & Awards
 Development of a Portable 3D Imaging System for Capturing Shoe and Tire Impressions
Award Information
Awardee
              Purdue University
Award #
              2016-DN-BX-0189
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    West Lafayette, IN
Congressional District
              4
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2016
Total funding (to date)
              $788,167
Original Solicitation
              Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2016, $788,167)
As submitted by the proposer: 
Problem Statement: The Scientific Working Group for Shoeprint and Tire Tread Evidence (SWGTREAD) recommends it is necessary to evaluate the viability of imaging and reproducing a shoe or tire impression in snow or soil without the need for, or in lieu of, traditional casting methods. Despite substantial advancements that have been made in developing noninvasive optical 3D imaging methods, the existing 3D imaging techniques are mainly good for diffuse objects having relatively low surface contrast and high optical surface reflectivity.
Research Design and Methods: The proposed project is to develop a novel and portable high-resolution (e.g., 600 dots per inch, or dpi) optical 3D scanning system to measure shoe or tire impressions. The 3D imaging technique is based on the binary defocusing technique and the auto-exposure control method that were recently invented by our team. Preliminary study has demonstrated that this approach permits camera-pixel-resolution 3D imagery capture and enables precise timing control, and thus has the potential to achieve sufficient accuracy and resolution for capturing shoe or tire impression in both snow and soil.
Products: Deliverables will include: 1) 3D imaging system that will produce unprecedentedly higher resolution images (i.e., 600 dpi) than any existing technology, remove the need for on-site calibration, be ultra portable (i.e., hand-size and a few pounds) and affordable (i.e., $5,000, or approximately 1/10 of alternatives), be eye safe, and be faster than either casting or alternative 3D imaging technologies; and 2) a few prototype systems will be available for forensic community to test and evaluate. Published papers and presentations on the study results will be provided for others in the field to examine, enabling further development.
Impact: This proposed project addresses the Development Goal in this solicitation and is intended to produce a novel system and method for collecting 3D images of tire tread and footwear impressions in difficult materials  snow and soil. The 3D imaging system can also accurately capture prints on uneven surfaces (in blood, dust, dirt, etc.) in an application that is common, problematic, and unreasonably difficult and time consuming for the competing technology (3D laser scanning). This technology will meet the stated objective of improving front end evidence collection at crime scenes with a non-contact, rapid, high-resolution method for impression collection. 

Note:  This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.

ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Evaluation of Purdue University's 3D Imaging Prototype for Footwear and Tire Impressions
                  Comparative study on 3D optical sensors for short range applications
                  Portable high-resolution automated 3D imaging for footwear and tire impression capture
                  Development of a Portable 3D Scanning System for Capturing Shoe and Tire Impressions
                  National Institute of Justice and Purdue University: Advancing 3D Imaging for Footwear and Tire Impressions
                  Rapid and automatic optimal exposure control for digital fringe projection technique
                  Status, challenges, and future perspectives of fringe projection profilometry
                  Motion Induced Phase Error Reduction Using a Filbert Transform

  
Date Created: September 19, 2016
    
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