Project Relationships

[中文]

This chapter explains how ESP-VISION relates to MicroPython, OpenMV, and its major third-party components. For licensing and redistribution obligations, see Licensing.

ESP-VISION, MicroPython, and OpenMV

The relationship can be summarized as follows:

  • MicroPython provides the language runtime and firmware base. ESP-VISION starts from a pinned MicroPython ESP32 port and adds overlay/micropython/, MicroPython user C modules, and ESP-IDF components. It does not implement a separate Python interpreter.

  • OpenMV is an upstream source for part of the vision implementation and API design. ESP-VISION reuses a subset of OpenMV imlib algorithms and some image binding and helper code, preserving their original license and copyright notices.

  • ESP-VISION is an independent integration for Espressif chips. Camera, display, storage, USB, codec, ESP-DL inference, and board support are integrated using ESP-VISION and ESP-IDF components. ESP-VISION is not a fork of the OpenMV firmware and does not include the complete OpenMV hardware abstraction, IDE, or feature set.

The sensor and image modules therefore follow the OpenMV API style to make script migration easier, but matching API names do not imply complete behavioral or feature compatibility. Support also depends on the chip, board, memory, peripherals, and build options. Use this guide’s API Reference as the authoritative support reference.

Dependency Layers

The main code layers in an ESP-VISION firmware image are:

User scripts
   |
   +-- MicroPython runtime and ESP32 port
   |
   +-- ESP-VISION Python modules
   |      +-- OpenMV-style sensor / image APIs
   |      +-- display / imageio / espdl / h264 / rtsp
   |
   +-- Algorithms and middleware
   |      +-- OpenMV imlib subset
   |      +-- ulab / ZXing-C++ / ESP-DL
   |
   +-- ESP-IDF, managed components, and board backends

Dependencies come from three locations:

  • Git submodules under lib/, such as MicroPython, ulab, and ZXing-C++;

  • third-party-derived code maintained under components/ and parts of modules/;

  • ESP Component Registry packages resolved from idf_component.yml. The exact component set and versions can vary with the ESP-IDF version, selected chip, and board.

For the version, local path, and license of each dependency, see the Licensing inventory.