ESP32-S3 Face Detection (Edge Impulse FOMO) - Memory Issue/Guru Meditation Error

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#1

Hi everyone,

I’m pretty new to edge ML and having trouble with a Face Detection project using Edge Impulse’s FOMO model. Getting consistent memory-related crashes that I can’t resolve.

Project: Face detection - FOMO - Dashboard - Edge Impulse

Board: ESP32-S3 WROOM N16R8 CAM

Problem: After compiling and uploading the example code, the board continuously reboots with a Guru Meditation Error (LoadProhibited exception).

Error Output:

ELF file SHA256: fe03a05a0a477bc6

Rebooting...

ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0xc (RTC_SW_CPU_RST),boot:0x29 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
Saved PC:0x42037a3e
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce3808,len:0x4bc
load:0x403c9700,len:0xbd8
load:0x403cc700,len:0x2a0c
entry 0x403c98d0

Edge Impulse Inferencing Demo

Guru Meditation Error: Core 1 panic'ed (LoadProhibited). Exception was unhandled.

Core 1 register dump:
PC : 0x420208b5 PS : 0x00060630 A0 : 0x820197bc A1 : 0x3fcebd70
A2 : 0x3fc9b0f8 A3 : 0x3fc92e88 A4 : 0xffff8fff A5 : 0x3c04dda0
A6 : 0x00000060 A7 : 0xff000000 A8 : 0x00000000 A9 : 0x3fcebd90
A10 : 0x3fc9b0f8 A11 : 0x00000000 A12 : 0x00000060 A13 : 0x3fc9b158
A14 : 0x00000008 A15 : 0x00000006 SAR : 0x00000019 EXCCAUSE: 0x0000001c
EXCVADDR: 0x00000000 LBEG : 0x400570e8 LEND : 0x400570f3 LCOUNT : 0x00000000

Backtrace: 0x420208b2:0x3fcebd70 0x420197b9:0x3fcebdc0 0x4201930a:0x3fcebdf0 0x42002b0a:0x3fcebe40 0x42002baf:0x3fcebe60 0x4200dd0a:0x3fcebe90

What I’ve tried:

  • Modifying ARENA_SIZE in the Edge Impulse library

From what I’ve read online, this is likely a memory allocation issue with the ML model being too large for available RAM.

Questions:

  1. Has anyone successfully run FOMO face detection on ESP32-S3?
  2. Are there specific memory optimization techniques for Edge Impulse models on ESP32-S3?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

#2

Hi, @ansioso !
No, it is not likely to be RAM issue.
Can you please fill the template? It is there for a reason. Mainly we need to know

  • Build Environment Details: [e.g., Arduino IDE 1.8.19 ESP32 Core for Arduino 2.0.4]
    because you didn’t specify how and what are you compiling.

Also, if you use Arduino IDE, there is esp exception decoder. Would be helpful to decode your backtrace.

#3

yes sorry is my first time posting so i missed some steps :sweat_smile:
Arduino IDE → 2.3.4
ESP32 Core → 3.3.0

after decoding the exception i get this:

1 | LoadProhibited: A load referenced a page mapped with an attribute that does not permit loads | 28

PC -> 0x42024b8d: ll_cam_set_pin () at /home/runner/work/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/managed_components/espressif__esp32-camera/target/esp32s3/ll_cam.c:370

0x42024b8a: ll_cam_set_pin () at /home/runner/work/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/managed_components/espressif__esp32-camera/target/esp32s3/ll_cam.c:370
0x4201cc67: cam_init () at /home/runner/work/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/managed_components/espressif__esp32-camera/driver/cam_hal.c:402
0x4201c79d: esp_camera_init () at /home/runner/work/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/managed_components/espressif__esp32-camera/driver/esp_camera.c:303
0x4200300d: ei_camera_init () at /tmp/.arduinoIDE-unsaved2025712-5008-u91tqa.lf0y8/esp32_camera/esp32_camera.ino:260
0x420030bb: setup () at /tmp/.arduinoIDE-unsaved2025712-5008-u91tqa.lf0y8/esp32_camera/esp32_camera.ino:138
0x4200e57e: loopTask (void*) at /home/fusillo/.arduino15/packages/esp32/hardware/esp32/3.3.0/cores/esp32/main.cpp:59
0x4037c195: vPortTaskWrapper () at /home/runner/work/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/esp-idf/components/freertos/FreeRTOS-Kernel/portable/xtensa/port.c:139

this decoder is really helpful, but with my little/no experience i still can’t find the issue
(at the end i used this decoder due to my Arduino IDE version)

#4

Something is wrong with you camera init.
The Arduino sketch we ship is by default is for ESP-EYE, you’ll need to make some changes to the camera config to make it work with ESP32-S3 WROOM N16R8 CAM. Check the board documentation or examples for the correct pin config and then change them in our example sketch.

Oh, and we don’t test with 3.3.0 core - it may be possible this is an issue as well. As it says in the sketch
// These sketches are tested with 2.0.4 ESP32 Arduino Core