AUTOMATION OF CRIMINALISTIC FOOTWEAR TRACE REGISTRATION IN THE FORENSIC SERVICE

REPORT 1. CREATION A DEDICATED APPLICATION OF THE SOFTWARE SUITE FOR AUTOMATED FOOTWEAR TRACE REGISTRATION FOR FORM AN INFORMATION RESOURCE OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE

Abstract

This article inaugurates a series devoted to the operation of an
automated footwear-imprint registration system. It highlights the
functionality of a dedicated application within a proprietary
software suite developed on the MATLAB programming and
numerical-computing platform. The application enables the
creation of an image based information resource of footwear
impressions for subsequent verification within the automated
footwear trace registration system of the Forensic Service of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and substantiates
the feasibility of its use. The study employed a range of methods,
including a mathematical approach for acquiring and structuring
data and performing conversion calculations; logical methods of
synthesis and analysis; a statistical method to reveal interaction
patterns among data elements; and generalization techniques. The
scientific novelty lies in justifying the use of a stand-alone application
of the original software package to generate an information resource
of footwear traces for automated forensic registration. The approach
incorporates a template for coding the names of elementary tread
patterns and entering their dimensional characteristics in a unified
scale. The application relies on techniques for forming a
multidimensional-matrix information resource and for mathematically
transforming image scales to a common reference system, as well as
coding objects using a predefined element-name template.
The MATLAB programming and numerical-computing environment,
supplemented by the Image Processing Toolbox, served as the
development platform. The paper also outlines the key concepts and
principles underlying the application’s operation and specifies the
tasks addressed, namely: creating a user-friendly system for input
and storage of research data; designing a prototype registration card
for footwear impressions; ensuring a unified image scale for all
footwear-trace images; developing a template of tread-element
names for coding geometric shapes; enabling measurements of the
dimensional characteristics of tread elements; building an
information resource to support subsequent comparative
examinations of footwear impressions within the automated forensic
registration system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Requirements are formulated for the images to be incorporated into
the central footwear-trace database (image format, scale bar, and
resolution). The application’s operation is illustrated with an
example of registering a footwear trace. Future research directions
include improving the client module of the application, designing
a standardized registration card in accordance with regulatory
documents, and developing an automated system for
determining the shape and dimensional characteristics of tread
elements when integrating data into the unified database.