“At night, we would huddle together in the fields, taking turns to keep watch,” Cheata begins, his voice heavy with years of unspoken struggle.
“We would shout, throw stones, wave our hands, anything to scare them away, but the monkeys just sat there, unbothered. And when the elephants came, massive and silent, there was nothing we could do. By dawn, months of hard work would vanish before our eyes, crops flattened, and hopes crushed. It was as if the land we looked after for months turned against us while we slept.”
In the small, isolated village of Rasabeda, located within the hills of Jharkhand, this was a reality that defined daily life. The village, reachable only by a narrow, rocky trail suitable for motorcycles and followed by a five-kilometre trek, has little connectivity with the outside world.
Crops are the lifeblood of its residents, and even small-scale losses can threaten families’ livelihoods. By day, mischievous monkeys raided the fields in groups, stripping fruits and grains with a precision that left farmers helpless. By night, elephants, moving through the hilly terrain, trampled fields under the cover of darkness. For the villagers, every season carried the anxiety of loss, sleepless nights, and a constant sense of vulnerability.
“When your farm is small, every crop counts. Even a small loss hurts, but this was never small. Entire portions of our harvest could be gone in a single night. Sometimes, we would stay awake for days, just to protect what little we had. It was exhausting, terrifying, and there seemed to be no solution,” the 45-year-old farmer explains.
Human-wildlife conflict is an escalating issue across India, particularly in forested and hilly regions. Traditional methods to deter animals, such as firecrackers, shouting, or electric fencing, are either inadequate, unaffordable, or hazardous to the animals themselves. In this landscape of fear and frustration, a young mind decided to step in, armed not just with empathy but with ingenuity.
A young student confronts a crisis
Avi Mohan Kumar Shuklaa, at just 17, was completing his Class 12 at Lady K C Roy Memorial School in Ranchi, carving a path that would soon impact lives far beyond the classroom. While many of his peers were considering college entrance exams or extracurricular achievements, he was building something to help the farmers.
Crops are the lifeblood of its residents, and even small-scale losses can threaten families’ livelihoods.
“I wanted to do something meaningful, something that could make a real difference. I could not just watch people struggle and lose their hard-earned crops. I wanted to act,” he tells The Better India.
The flicker came in August 2025, during the monsoon season. His grandfather returned home, his face etched with worry, recounting a neighbour’s devastating loss to a herd of elephants. “They lost crops worth nearly one lakh rupees in one night,” he remembers his grandfather saying. “Months of hard work, gone in hours.”
This moment stayed with the teenager. He began studying the problem in depth, exploring the patterns of human-wildlife conflict and how technology might be applied. “I found that crores worth of crops are destroyed every year in Jharkhand alone,” he says. “And this was not just about money. People’s safety, their sleep, and their sense of security were all at stake.”
From curiosity to creation
Before this, he had already been engaged in technology and innovation. He participated in global coding programmes, including the Stanford Code in Place, and built a humanoid robot in his school lab. He had even started developing an AI agent for robotics. But the urgency of the problem at hand prompted a shift.
“I realised my other projects could wait, but this problem could not. Lives and livelihoods were at risk, and I felt compelled to respond,” he says.
By September 2025, he had assembled his prototype. “At first, it was very rudimentary. I had only a microcontroller, a basic vibration sensor, and a buzzer. It looked rough, far from perfect, and almost fragile, but despite its simplicity, it worked. That little device was the first step toward something that could actually make a difference,” he admits, recalling those early nights.
Working in his bedroom, he turned his home into a makeshift laboratory. The nearest electronics store was over a dozen kilometres away, requiring repeated trips for components. Mistakes were inevitable.
“I burnt components, connected the wrong wires, and misjudged voltage,” Avi laughs. “Every failure taught me something, and slowly, I began understanding each part and how it behaved.”
Balancing innovation with schoolwork was exhausting. “There was pressure to focus only on my studies,” Avi says. “So I worked at night, often until four in the morning, building and refining the device, doing everything possible to make it work. I taught myself using YouTube tutorials, datasheets, and practical projects. To better understand the problem, I used Perplexity AI, a deep research tool, and drew on my experience writing research papers every year. This helped me research thoroughly, learn continuously, and keep improving the solution.”
By October 2025, Avi had developed a fully functional field-ready device, which he named Innobox.
His family initially worried he was neglecting exams. “They were concerned I would ruin my boards. I promised to work only in my spare time. And when my savings ran out, they supported me financially and emotionally. That support was priceless,” he explains.
When innovation met the fields: The making of Innobox
By October 2025, he had developed a fully functional field-ready device, which he named Innobox. “It is an AI-powered animal deterrent system,” he explains. “It detects an approaching animal, confirms it is a threat, and deters it without causing harm.”
The device’s brilliance lies in its multi-layered detection. The first layer uses a seismic sensor to detect ground vibrations caused by large animals such as elephants, even up to 50 metres away.
The second layer employs a radar system, confirming the presence of a sizeable, slow-moving object, effectively filtering out false alarms from small animals or environmental noise.
The third layer is an AI camera powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller. This camera identifies the species, distinguishing between elephants, monkeys, or other wildlife with over 85 percent accuracy. Only when all three layers signal a threat does the device respond.
The fourth layer involves a 120-decibel siren and a strobe light, startling the animal and driving it away. Simultaneously, the device sends an SMS alert to forest officials and local contacts.
“The entire response happens in under 120 milliseconds,” he says. “And it runs completely on solar energy. We are using a 10-watt solar panel coupled with a rechargeable battery, which allows the device to function in remote areas without electricity for up to 18 months without intervention.”
Professor Gaurav Marathe, chairperson of social impact at IIM Ranchi, recalls the first time he saw Avi’s work.
“Most students come with ideas, but he came with a working device. He had identified a real problem, built a solution with his own hands, and tested it without a lab, without a team, and without funding. That initiative is rare and worth appreciating,” he says.
His connection with Professor Marathe through the Young Changemakers Programme was pivotal.
“Our conversations were not about circuits or coding,” the professor says. “They were about trust, impact, and real-world applicability. How do farmers accept a new device? How do you explain its value to forest officers? How do you guarantee it functions in real-world conditions, in rain and darkness? Those discussions shaped Innobox into a reliable solution.”
The institutional backing of IIM Ranchi allowed him to deploy his first devices confidently, making sure that his technology could move from concept to real-world application.
Deployment in Rasabeda
The deployment in Rasabeda village was both a technical and emotional milestone. “The village is small and isolated,” Avi explains. “We could only carry the devices on motorbikes and then trek to the farms. But the villagers were curious, excited, and hopeful.”
The deployment in Rasabeda village was both a technical and emotional milestone.
Cheata, one of the first villagers to use Innobox, describes the moment graphically. “About 15 to 20 monkeys were sitting in the field,” he recalls. “When the device went off, they scattered immediately. I had never seen them run so fast. I sleep better now, and I do not have to guard the fields myself anymore.”
The emotional relief was palpable. “It is not a complete solution yet. But it has changed our nights, our confidence, and our sense of security. We know that even when we sleep, someone, or something, is protecting our crops. We have avoided losses of tens of thousands of rupees, and our harvest is finally safe for the first time in years,” he admits. At present, the device is in use by over 35 families in the village, bringing noticeable relief and protection to their crops.
Professor Marathe reflects on the broader impact. “This device is about more than protecting crops. It restores dignity and peace of mind. It is affordable, automatic, and effective, a combination that did not exist before.”
The final version of the device, equipped with a 4G network, an AI camera, multiple sensors, and all the essential components, costs Avi around Rs 7,000 to build in bulk.
“If we produce in larger quantities, I would sell it for approximately Rs 10,000 per device,” Avi explains.
The pricing strategy is designed to make the solution accessible; 70 per cent of the cost would be covered through government contracts, while the remaining 30 per cent could be managed by individual farmers or non-governmental organisations. The final selling price is still under consideration.
Compared to existing options, this represents a dramatic cost reduction. Traditional solutions, such as electric fencing, can cost between two and three lakh rupees per kilometre, and commercial AI camera setups often run into several lakh rupees each.
“The government has mainly been paying compensation after crop damage occurs,” he points out, “but they have not invested in proactive solutions that prevent the loss in the first place.”
“This device is designed to work in the field without constant human supervision, and at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies,” he adds.
The road ahead
For the young innovator, the journey continues. “We are collecting data from the pilot deployment, iterating on the design, and preparing to scale,” he says. “The goal is to cover entire corridors where elephants pass, installing multiple devices per village to guarantee full protection.”
The final version of the device, equipped with a 4G network, an AI camera, multiple sensors, and all the essential components, costs Avi around Rs 7,000.
Interest from the government and non-governmental organisations is growing. “There is a clear path from pilot to district-wide deployment,” Professor Marathe adds. “With the right introductions and field data, this innovation can change human-wildlife conflict management in Jharkhand and beyond.”
In Rasabeda, hope now hums softly. “If more devices are installed, the entire village will be safe,” Cheata says. “This young man came, stayed, installed the device, and made sure it worked. That meant something. It showed us that someone cared. We finally have the chance to protect our homes and our livelihoods.”
Avi has shown that real change does not require vast resources or prestigious labs. Sometimes, it begins with observing a problem, believing it can be solved, and working relentlessly until a solution stands in a field, protecting what matters most.
All pictures courtesy Avi Mohan Kumar Shuklaa.
