Researchers Embed a Mix of Tracking Codes into 3D Printed Parts

New York University (NYU) researchers have embedded tracking codes into 3D printed products to do away with counterfeiting.

The team from NYU Tandon and NYU Abu Dhabi are the first to convert flat quick response (QR) Codes into complex features hidden within additive manufactured (AM) parts to contain reverse engineering and IP piracy.

NYU Tandon associate professor Nikhil Gupta and his doctoral student Fei Chen – along with NYU Abu Dhabi researchers Nektarios Tsoutsos, Michail Maniatakos and Khaled Shahin – exploited the layer-by-layer AM printing process to turn QR codes into a game of 3D chess.

Gupta’s team developed a scheme that ‘explodes’ a QR code within a computer-assisted design (CAD) file so that it presents several dummy QR tags to a micro-CT scanner or other scanning device.

Only a trusted printer or end user would know the correct head-on orientation for the scanner to capture the legitimate QR code image.

“By converting a relatively simple two-dimensional tag into a complex 3D feature comprising hundreds of tiny elements dispersed within the printed component, we are able to create many ‘false faces,’ which lets us hide the correct QR code from anyone who doesn’t know where to look,” Gupta said.

According to the team, embedded QR codes have negligible impact on the structural integrity of a printed product.

“To create typical QR code contrasts that are readable to a scanner you have to embed the equivalent of empty spaces,” explains Chen. “But by dispersing these tiny flaws over many layers we were able to keep the part’s strength well within acceptable limits.”

Tsoutsos and Maniatakos explored threat vectors to determine which AM sectors are best served by this security technology, a step that Gupta said was crucial in the research.

“You need to be cost-efficient and match the solution to the threat level,” he explained. “Our innovation is particularly useful for sophisticated, high-risk sectors such as biomedical and aerospace, in which the quality of even the smallest part is critical.”