Introduction to OpenCV

A hands-on OpenCV course with 6 practical, real-world projects for intermediate Python students.

Get Started View on GitHub

Quick Navigation

Section Description
Getting Started Installation and setup guide
Learning Modules 20+ curriculum tutorials
Applications 14 ready-to-run demos
Projects 6 complete projects
Teaching Materials PDF guides for offline study

Course Overview

This course teaches computer vision through hands-on projects. Instead of just learning theory, you’ll build real applications that solve practical problems.

Course Structure
================

    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                    FOUNDATIONS (Week 1)                         │
    │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐             │
    │  │    Core     │  │   ImgProc   │  │   I/O GUI   │             │
    │  │  Operations │  │  Filtering  │  │   Video     │             │
    │  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘             │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
                                  ▼
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │              FEATURES & DETECTION (Week 2)                      │
    │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐             │
    │  │ Features2D  │  │  ObjDetect  │  │    Video    │             │
    │  │  Matching   │  │    Haar     │  │   Tracking  │             │
    │  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘             │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
                                  ▼
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                ADVANCED TOPICS (Week 3)                         │
    │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐             │
    │  │  Calib3D    │  │     DNN     │  │   ML/Photo  │             │
    │  │ Calibration │  │Deep Learning│  │  Stitching  │             │
    │  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘             │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
                                  ▼
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                   PROJECTS (Week 4)                             │
    │  ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐  │
    │  │ DocScan │ │  Face   │ │ License │ │ Object  │ │ Gesture │  │
    │  │   OCR   │ │ Attend  │ │  Plate  │ │ Counter │ │ Control │  │
    │  └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘  │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Practical Projects

Build these 6 real-world applications:

Session Project What You’ll Build
1-2 Document Scanner Edge detection, perspective transform, OCR
1-2 Face Attendance Face detection & recognition system
3-4 License Plate Recognition ANPR for parking/security systems
3-4 Object Counting People/vehicle tracking & analytics
5-6 Quality Inspection Industrial defect detection
5-6 Gesture Control Touchless presentation control

Ready-to-Run Applications

In addition to projects, explore 14 standalone applications that demonstrate specific techniques:

Level Applications
Beginner Document Scanner, Color Tracker, Real-time Filters, Face Blur, Object Counter
Intermediate Motion Alarm, QR/Barcode Reader, Lane Detection, Watermarking, Color Palette
Advanced ArUco Markers, Hand Gesture, Virtual Background, Panorama Stitcher

View All Applications

Each application includes:

  • Interactive mode with webcam
  • Demo mode with sample images
  • Documented keyboard controls
  • Links to official OpenCV documentation

Learning Modules

The curriculum covers all major OpenCV modules with 20+ hands-on tutorials:

Core Modules

Module Topics Key Algorithms
Core Arrays, operations, pixels NumPy integration, bitwise ops
Image Processing Filtering, morphology, edges Gaussian blur, Canny, contours
I/O & GUI Read/write, video, events imread, VideoCapture, trackbars
Features2D Detection, matching ORB, SIFT, FLANN, homography
Object Detection Haar cascades, templates Face detection, template matching
Video Analysis Optical flow, tracking Lucas-Kanade, background subtraction

Advanced Modules

Module Topics Key Algorithms
Camera Calibration 3D geometry, calibration Undistortion, perspective transform
Deep Learning Neural networks Model loading, blob, inference
Machine Learning Traditional ML KNN, SVM, K-Means
Photo Enhancement Inpainting, HDR, denoising
Stitching Panoramas Feature alignment, blending
Extras Face, tracking, OCR LBPH, KCF, Tesseract

Quick Start 

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/marcus888-techstack/introduction-to-opencv.git
cd introduction-to-opencv

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Download sample images (recommended)
python curriculum/sample_data/download_samples.py

# Run a tutorial
python curriculum/01_core/01_basics.py

# Run an application
python curriculum/applications/07_qr_barcode_reader.py

# Run a project
python projects/01_document_scanner/main.py

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8+ with intermediate proficiency
  • Webcam for real-time projects
  • Basic understanding of NumPy arrays

Teaching Materials

Download comprehensive PDF guides for offline study:

View All Teaching Materials

Topic PDF Guide
Core & Image Processing Core Fundamentals
Features & Detection Feature Matching
Deep Learning DNN Inference
Stitching Image Stitching

Official OpenCV Documentation