Overview:

1. Introduction to Image Processing and OpenCV
2. Downloading OpenCV
3. Introduction to Python
4. OpenCV in Python
5. Interfacing with Arduino
6. Code for Virtual Steering and Ball Following

Introduction to Image Processing:

Image Processing is basically a form of signal processing for which input is an image and output is either an image or any set of parameters of the image. In this tutorial we’ll be dealing with Digital Image Processing (other types include analog and optical image processing). The image can be treated as a two-dimensional signal and hence various signal processing techniques can be applied on it.Some of which include Edge detection, Color detection, Dilation,Erosion etc.

Some of the basic concepts to be aware of before proceeding any further:
An image can be considered as a 2-D matrix of pixels. The pixel intensity would either be 1 or 0 for a black and white image and varies from 0 to 255 for a greyscale image if it is an 8-bit image( 8bpp(bits per pixel)) .On the other hand a color image is a just a combination of 3 2-d matrixes with each pixel intensity varying from 0 to 255 for an 8bpp image.

OpenCV:

OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision) is an open source library developed by Intel, used for real time image processing. It is completely cross-platform (Windows,Linux,Mac) and is free to use under open-source BSD license.
You can follow this link for downloading and installing Opencv in Ubuntu:

Click Here

Python:

Python is a dynamic,interpreted language.Unlike C/C++ you need not declare the type of variables, functions in the source code.All the source files use ‘.py’ extension.

Installing Python in Ubuntu :

Method 1:-

1. To update the software packages installed on your system :
   sudo apt-get update
2. To install a new software package :
   sudo apt-get install python
3. To install a new python modules:
   sudo apt-get python-scipy

Method 2:-

If you ,for whatever reason, can’t install with the help of the above method

1. Untar/Extract the downloaded package
2. Navigate to the downloaded directory
3. Configure (./configure)
4. Make (make)
5. Install (make install)

*Note:if you face any permission denial from the terminal prepend your command with sudo Ex: sudo make install