OpenCV is a library optimized for Computer Vision, a branch of Artificial Intelligence. Written using C++ native language, the OpenCV library digitizes camera capture frame by frame, pixel by pixel, so a CPU can perform inference of their analog ‘eye’ vision to digital quantization. Therefore, a CPU can recognize the outside world in front of it, then take any action required. This is a basic comprehension of creating a humanoid robot that can understand any objects through a camera as its eyes, and then respond with some actions as its algorithm.
OpenCV can run under multiple platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows, Android), so it can be ported across platforms (with certain terms & conditions). Sometimes we need to compile it on our Windows/macOS laptop for a turnkey application, sometimes we want to run it on another machine like a Raspberry Pi or NVIDIA Jetson Nano. In particular cases, such as for people who aren’t familiar with edge devices (Raspi, Jetson Nano, Beagle Bone, Orange Pi, etc), executing the library on Windows first before porting it to the Raspberry Pi is a better option than running the library directly on the machine. For those who want to install the OpenCV library on Windows easily, pay attention to these 2 super-easy steps:
- Install Python (and pip) on your Windows laptop. Download the recent version of Python here. Don’t forget to select ‘add Python3.xx to PATH’ option during installation to make Python’s command accessible everywhere on your laptop
- Running this command on the command prompt window (Windows key + R, then type ‘cmd’)
py -m pip install opencv-contrib-python
Afterwards, you can check the installation by entering this command in Python like this:
py import cv2 print(cv2.__version__)
If no errors appear and the OpenCV version is displayed on your screen, then the OpenCV library is installed successfully.
That’s it. Currently, your laptop is ready to compile any sophisticated computer vision-based apps. Congratz.
a Technopreneur – writer – Enthusiastic about learning AI, IoT, Robotics, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, ESP8266, Delphi, Python, Javascript, PHP, etc. Founder of startup Indomaker.com