--- title: SIMD-accelerated Machine Vision On An ESP32-S3 | daily.dev description: A developer implemented the FAST corner detection algorithm on an ESP32-S3 using its SIMD instruction set. The ESP32-S3 uses a Xtensa Lx7-based twin-core MCU,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/simd-accelerated-machine-vision-on-an-esp32-s3-rzbj9gunw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: SIMD-accelerated Machine Vision On An ESP32-S3 | daily.dev og:description: A developer implemented the FAST corner detection algorithm on an ESP32-S3 using its SIMD instruction set. The ESP32-S3 uses a Xtensa Lx7-based twin-core MCU,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/simd-accelerated-machine-vision-on-an-esp32-s3-rzbj9gunw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/rzbj9guNW.png og:image:alt: SIMD-accelerated Machine Vision On An ESP32-S3 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # SIMD-accelerated Machine Vision On An ESP32-S3 **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A developer implemented the FAST corner detection algorithm on an ESP32-S3 using its SIMD instruction set. The ESP32-S3 uses a Xtensa Lx7-based twin-core MCU, and the project required writing assembly instructions for its SIMD ISA. The ISA lacked unsigned byte comparisons and misaligned reads, requiring workarounds. Running at 240 MHz, the chip processed a VGA stream in real-time at 30 FPS, about 2x faster than a non-SIMD implementation. The PlatformIO project is available on GitHub. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How fast can an ESP32-S3 run the FAST corner detection algorithm using SIMD instructions? An ESP32-S3 running at 240 MHz can process a VGA video stream in real-time at 30 FPS using a SIMD-accelerated implementation of the FAST corner detection algorithm. This is about a 2x speed-up compared to a naive implementation that only uses non-SIMD instructions on the chip's Xtensa Lx7-based dual-core processor. _Exploring SIMD on microcontrollers? Find more embedded optimization write-ups on daily.dev._ ### What challenges come up when writing SIMD assembly for the ESP32-S3? The ESP32-S3's SIMD instruction set lacks comparisons between unsigned byte values and has no support for direct misaligned reads, both of which required creative workarounds when implementing the FAST corner detection algorithm. These gaps make porting standard vision algorithms to its Xtensa Lx7 core assembly more involved than on more complete SIMD ISAs. _Developers hitting ESP32-S3 SIMD limitations can compare notes on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [SIMD-accelerated computer vision on a $2 microcontroller](https://daily.dev/posts/simd-accelerated-computer-vision-on-a-2-microcontroller-shxpf6zls) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Deeply Optimized MSX Emulation On ESP32-S3 With VGA Output](https://daily.dev/posts/deeply-optimized-msx-emulation-on-esp32-s3-with-vga-output-hqqwp73mi) · Hackaday · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Bare-metal MSX2\+ Emulator for ESP32-S3 offers custom LCD\_CAM VGA implementation & Z80 optimizations](https://daily.dev/posts/bare-metal-msx2-emulator-for-esp32-s3-offers-custom-lcd-cam-vga-implementation-z80-optimizations-kmxn61vlw) · CNX Software · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [This amazing ESP32 game runs at 60FPS on a 480x320 screen](https://daily.dev/posts/this-amazing-esp32-game-runs-at-60fps-on-a-480x320-screen-b6fvausuh) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Face and Voice Recognition on MCUs: The Edge AI Coffee Machine Challenge](https://daily.dev/posts/face-and-voice-recognition-on-mcus-the-edge-ai-coffee-machine-challenge-ccogevouj) · Qt · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot), [#computer-vision](https://daily.dev/tags/computer-vision), [#embedded](https://daily.dev/tags/embedded) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/simd-accelerated-machine-vision-on-an-esp32-s3-rzbj9gunw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"SIMD-accelerated Machine Vision On An ESP32-S3","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/simd-accelerated-machine-vision-on-an-esp32-s3-rzbj9gunw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/simd-accelerated-machine-vision-on-an-esp32-s3-rzbj9gunw"},"datePublished":"2026-10-27T12:00:06.653Z","dateModified":"2026-10-27T12:00:30.587Z","description":"A developer implemented the FAST corner detection algorithm on an ESP32-S3 using its SIMD instruction set. 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