We present a method of reconstructing the region of origin and
trajectories for particles given impact directions and
positions. This method works for nonlinear trajectories, such as
parabolic motion or motion with drag if given drag parameters. Our
method works if given the impact speeds as well, or they can be
estimated using a similar total initial energy prior. We apply our
algorithm to the case of forensic blood pattern reconstruction, by
automatically estimating impact velocities directly form the blood
patterns. We validate our method in physically accurate simulated
experiments, a feasibility study varying the impact angle and
speed to estimate the impact speed from blood drop densities, as
well as a forensic experiment using blood to reconstruct the
region of origin.
VMV2011 PaperVMV2011 Slides M.Sc. Thesis