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EDWartens UK

Free course · AI and machine learning

Computer Vision with OpenCV

Classical image processing on the pictures a plant produces: parts on a belt, caps on bottles, a scratch on a surface. Images as arrays, thresholds, morphology, edges, contours and measurement, video and background subtraction, tracking and counting, Hough and template matching, and the camera, lens and lighting decisions that come before any code.

See the modules

Free to learn. Verifiable certificate £19 when you pass the final exam (optional, VAT included).

Level
Beginner
Modules
12
Video
19 hours
Price
Free

Outcome

What you will be able to do

Read, convert, crop and measure images in OpenCV; detect by colour in HSV; threshold and clean binary images; find edges and contours and turn them into counts and millimetre measurements; process video, subtract background and track objects across a counting line; use histograms, template matching and Hough transforms; choose cameras, lenses, lighting and triggers; and evaluate a counter against ground truth.

  • Treat an image as an array and measure a part in millimetres from pixels
  • Detect parts by colour in HSV and by brightness with Otsu and adaptive thresholds
  • Clean binary images with morphology and separate touching parts
  • Find contours and turn them into counts, sizes, shapes and pass/fail
  • Process video, subtract the background and count parts crossing a line with a tracker
  • Choose camera, lens, lighting and trigger so the software stays simple

Software

Google Colab (free) with OpenCV pre-installed. A phone camera for the projects.

Hardware

A phone camera, a tray and a ruler for the projects. No industrial camera needed.

Syllabus

12 modules

Each module has video lessons, notes and a short quiz. The final exam closes the course.

  1. 1An image is an array2 lessons
  2. 2Drawing, arithmetic, masks and HSV colour5 lessons
  3. 3Thresholding and morphology3 lessonsLab
  4. 4Smoothing, gradients and Canny edges3 lessons
  5. 5Contours, shapes and measurement2 lessonsLab
  6. 6Video, motion and background subtraction3 lessons
  7. 7Tracking and counting across a line2 lessons
  8. 8Histograms, template matching and Hough5 lessons
  9. 9Haar cascades, corners and the limits of classical vision3 lessonsLab
  10. 10Cameras, lenses, lighting and calibration4 lessons
  11. 11The project: a conveyor counter, evaluated2 lessons
  12. 12Final assessment0 lessons

How it works

How this course works

  1. Watch the video lessonsOne module at a time, at your own pace.
  2. Take the module quizA short quiz at the end of each module shows what stuck.
  3. Keep your notesWrite in My notes beside each module and ask the trainer if you are stuck.
  4. Practise in the labOptionalTry a task from the module in the EDWartens Lab, in your browser.
  5. Sit the final examPass it once you have been through the modules.
  6. Certificate, if you want oneOptionalPaid, and only after you pass. Anyone can check it online.

EDWartens Lab

Practise this in the EDWartens Lab

Train a model on plant data, move the decision threshold and weigh the cost of errors in the Lab's AI workbench.

Works alongside Computer Vision with OpenCV. The Lab is ai for industry practice in your browser: no install, no hardware, free to use. Sign in as a learner and it opens with your account.

Open the free lab See the Lab
AI for industry: Build AI models.

Levels to try with this course

Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.

Why practise in a lab

Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.

  • Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
  • The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
  • Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Certificate

An optional certificate when you pass

Learning is free. Pass the final exam and you can have a certificate for £19, including VAT, with a number employers can check online. It records that you completed a free online course; it is not a regulated qualification or a CPD certificate.

  • Your name, the course, its study time and your final exam score
  • A unique certificate number and a QR code to its verification page
  • Issued by Wartens Ltd; add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
  • Pay now or after you pass: it is issued the moment you pass the final

How the certificate works

Sample certificate for Computer Vision with OpenCV

Credits

Who made the lessons

The video lessons belong to their creators. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, quizzes and the final exam.

Questions

About this course

Do I need an industrial camera?
No. Every exercise runs on images and videos you make with a phone, plus a synthetic belt video the notebook generates with a known part count. The module on cameras and lighting tells you what to buy when the time comes.
Is this deep learning?
No — deliberately. This course is the classical toolbox that solves most fixed-camera inspection jobs at a fraction of the cost, and it is what the Deep Learning and Machine Vision courses build on. It also teaches you to measure when classical methods fail, so a neural network is a decision, not a reflex.
What are the projects?
A conveyor part counter — detection, tracking, a counting line — debugged on a synthetic belt video with a known count and then run on your own phone video, with misses and double counts reported separately; and a colour-sorting plus size-check station on photos of bottle caps.
Is the course really free?
Yes. Every module, practice task, project and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you have finished the modules and passed the final assessment (the project is optional practice), with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a vendor credential and is never described as one.
Who made the video lessons?
The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks, the projects and the assessments.
How long does the course take?
Plan on about 19 hours in all, including the video lessons, notes and practice tasks. It is self-paced, so you work through the twelve modules at your own speed.

Applied AI engineer

Take it with

See the whole path

The Professional Module is five live days of Siemens PLC, HMI and SCADA with an instructor, then a resume session and a CPD certificate.

See the Professional Module