Abilities of Using MS-Unit Computer Vision Hardware and Software Complex Studying Forensic Objects

Abstract

An urgent task for expert practice is to develop modern instrumentation and new quantitative methods of evaluation for objects of forensic ballistic examination, in particular, gunshot residues. The purpose of this work is to determine the capability of the MS-Unit computer vision hardware and software complex in quantitative assessment of the main and additional characteristics of a shot to solve the most frequently encountered problem - determining the distance of the shot. MS-Unit consists of an autonomous spectrozonal illuminator “Photobox 3138” with white light function with high color rendering index CRI= 97+, digital camera, computer, and a desktop app ImgOpinion. The authors have studied the functionality of ImgOpinion application when forming a “damage data sheet”. Based on the proposed algorithms for measuring colorimetric characteristics, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the close shot traces on test targets produced by shooting from a short-barreled firearms have been assessed. The presented software provides accurate mathematical calculation and analysis of the data on the soot deposition on targets, as well as an opportunity to illustrate the obtained results in the form of graphs and diagrams.

Keywords

• computer vision
• colorimetric analyzer
• gunshot residues
• forensic examination