This paper deals with the study of the detection and characterization of a constant moving heat source on a plate using the temperature values measured on the rear face. The study is numerical and based on simulated temperature data. In order to perform the identification of the shape and the trajectory of the moving heat source, a 3D finite volume model is developed. A parameterization of the unknowns is then carried out in the model in order to be able to identify the characteristics of the mobile heat source without making assumptions on its shape and its trajectory. The sensitivity study carried out makes it possible to define the identifiability of these parameters and thus the characteristics of the mobile source. Temperature data of the rear face are generated from another 3D finite element model. Using these simulated data and the developed model, an inverse heat conduction procedure is applied. A conjugate gradient method is implemented to identify the parameters of the problem. The study of the impact of the measurement noise as well as the parameters of the mobile source on the quality and accuracy of the identification is conducted. Thus, the trajectory and the shape of the mobile source are identified and compared to the input data without any assumption being made on the mobile source data.