HUSKYLENS 2 – A 6 TOPS LLM and AI vision camera with self-learning capabilities

DFRobot HUSKYLENS 2 is an LLM and AI vision camera powered by a Kendryte K230 dual-core RISC-V SoC with a 6 TOPS AI accelerator and designed to be easy-to-use for makers, educators, competition teams, and AI enthusiasts. It provides an upgrade to the HUSKYLENS AI camera introduced in 2019 with the Kendryte K210 SoC.

It features 1GB of LPDDR4, an 8GB eMMC flash, a microSD card slot, a 2MP camera sensor, a 4-pin Gravity expansion connector, and a USB-C port for power and programming. The company says the HUSKYLEN 2 comes preloaded with over 20 AI models, including object tracking, hand recognition, and instance segmentation, but users can also train and deploy their own AI models using features like the self-learning classifier.

HUSLYLENSE 2 specifications:

• SoC – Kendryte K230
  • CPU
    • 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 1.6GHz with RVV 1.0 support
    • 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 800MHz
  • AI accelerator – Up to 6 TOPS
  • DPU” using 3D structured light depth calculation up to 1280×800 @ 30fps
  • VPU – Video encoding/decoding for H.264/H.265/JPEG/MJPEG up to 4Kp40/4Kp20
• System Memory – 1GB LPDDR4
• Storage
  • 8GB eMMC flash
  • MicroSD card slot
• Display – 2.4-inch IPS touchscreen display with 640×480 resolution
• Camera – 2MP GC2093 image sensor (1/2.9″); replaceable lens, and an optional microscope lens is also available
• Audio – Capacitive silicon microphone and 1W speaker
• Networking – Optional 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 via slot-in module
• USB – USB 2.0 Type-C port
• Expansion – 4-pin Gravity connector (I2C or UART)
• Misc
  • Function button
  • 2x LEDs
  • 1x RGB LED
• Power Supply – 3.3V to 5V
• Power Consumption – 1.5 to 3 Watts
• Dimensions – 70 x 58 x 19mm

With the 4-pin Gravity connector with UART and I2C interfaces and code samples, DFRobot claims the HUSKYLENS 2 is fully compatible with Arduino, BBC micro:bit, ESP32, Raspberry Pi, UNIHIKER, and other devices used for robotics, automation, and STEM education.

On the software side, beyond the 20 preloaded models, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) service allows the HUSKYLENS 2 to connect local visual recognition to large language models. For instance, the camera can process an image of your lunch and provide nutritional information and personalized dietary advice. Custom vision models can be trained using YOLO, and real-time video can be transmitted over USB-C or the optional WiFi module. You’ll find more details to get started in the rather detailed wiki.

It’s not the first Kendryte K230 device around, as we covered the CanMV-K230 Edge AI development board in October 2023, and the Banana Pi BPI-CanMV-K230D-Zero in 2024. Having said that, the HUSKYLEN 2 is a complete device and may be easier to use since the company appears to have done a lot of work on the software side.

The best way to understand the capabilities of the HUSKYLEN 2 Edge AI camera is probably to watch the short video embedded below, showcasing the main features with a few demos.

 

The HUSKYLENS 2 LLM and AI vision camera can be purchased on DFRobot for $74.90. DFRobot also manages an Amazon store, but the new model is not listed there just yet.

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