Fall 2024 CS 543/ECE 549: Computer Vision

Quick links: schedule, Campuswire (announcements and discussion), Canvas (assignment submission and grades), Mediaspace (lecture recordings)

Instructor: Svetlana Lazebnik  (slazebni -at- illinois.edu)
Lectures: W F 11:00-12:15 1404 Siebel

TAs: Shreya Gummadi (gummadi4), Hao-Yu Hsu (haoyuh3), Zixuan Huang (zixuan32), Shivansh Patel (sp58)

Instructor and TA office hours: see Campuswire

Contacting the course staff: For emergencies and special circumstances, please email the instructor. For questions about lectures and assignments, use Campuswire. For questions about your scores (including regrade requests), email the responsible TAs.

Overview

In the simplest terms, computer vision is the discipline of "teaching machines how to see." This field dates back more than fifty years, but the recent explosive growth of digital imaging and machine learning technologies makes the problems of automated image interpretation more exciting and relevant than ever. This course will cover the foundations of computer vision, including basic image processing, feature extraction and matching, image formation, and 3D structure recovery. The focus will be largely on mathematical frameworks and "classical" problem formulations and techniques, not on state-of-the-art deep learning systems. Students primarily interested in deep learning should consider taking CS 444.

Prerequisites: Knowledge of linear algebra, calculus, probability and statistics. Python programming experience and previous exposure to image processing and numerical optimization are highly desirable. Knowledge of deep learning is helpful, but not required.

Recommended textbooks: Grading scheme:
  • Programming assignments: 50%
    • Five MPs, done individually, in Python
  • Final project: 30%
    • Groups of two to five; deliverables include proposal, intermediate progress report, final report
  • Unit quizzes: 20%
    • Three or four multiple-choice online quizzes on the four units from the syllabus below
  • Participation: up to 3% extra credit
    • Students can get extra credit for actively participating in class, on Piazza, or during office hours
  Be sure to read the course policies!

Syllabus

I. Image processing and low-level vision
  • Image sampling, interpolation, transformations
  • Fourier analysis
  • Linear filters and edges
  • Feature extraction
  • Optical flow and feature tracking
II. Fitting and alignment
  • Least squares fitting, robust fitting
  • RANSAC, Hough transform
  • Feature matching and image alignment
III. Image formation
  • Camera models
  • Light and shading
  • Color
  • Camera optics, perspective projection
IV. 3D vision
  • Camera calibration
  • Epipolar geometry
  • Two-view and multi-view stereo
  • Structure from motion
  • Light field modeling
  • Dense reconstruction
V. Advanced topics
  • Selection of topics depends on time, student interest, and instructor choice. Possible topics include: image generation and manipulation, deep learning for 3D vision, video processing

Schedule (tentative)

Date Topic Readings (F&P 2nd ed.), assignments
August 28 Introduction: PPTX, PDF Self-study: See resources for Python and linear algebra tutorials, feel free to try U Mich EECS442 Mastery Assignment as a warmup
August 30 Image processing: PPTX, PDF  
September 4 Image filtering: PPTX, PDF  
September 6 Image filtering cont. Assignment 1 is out
September 11 Fourier analysis: PPTX, PDF Reading: Draft notes from D. Forsyth
September 13 Fourier analysis cont.  
September 18 Edge detection: PPTX, PDF  
September 20 Corner detection: PPTX, PDF Assignment 1 due September 23
September 25 SIFT keypoint detection: PPTX, PDF Reading: Distinctive image features from scale-invariant keypoints
Assignment 2 is out
September 27 No class  
October 2 Optical flow: PPTX, PDF  
October 4 Fitting: PPTX, PDF  
October 9 Alignment: PPTX, PDF Assignment 2 due October 9
October 11 Alignment cont. Project proposals due October 14
October 16 Cameras: PPTX, PDF Assignment 3 is out
October 18 Light and shading: PPTX, PDF  
October 23 Color: PPTX, PDF  
October 25 Color cont.  
October 30 Camera calibration: PPTX, PDF Assignment 3 due October 31
November 1 Single-view metrology: PPTX, PDF Assignment 4 is out
November 6 Single-view metrology cont.  
November 8 Epipolar geometry: PPTX, PDF Project progress reports due November 11
November 13 Epipolar geometry cont.  
November 15 Structure from motion: PPTX, PDF Assignment 4 due November 19
November 20 Two-view stereo: PPTX, PDF Assignment 5 is out
November 22 Multi-view stereo: PPTX, PDF  
December 4 Light field modeling: PPTX, PDF  
December 6 Neural radiance fields: PPTX, PDF  
December 11 Selected project presentations Assignment 5 due December 11
Final project reports due December 16

Resources