RANCHI: Moved by the hardships faced by villagers whose standing crops are routinely ravaged by wild elephants, 18-year-old Avi Mohan Shukla has developed a low-cost, AI-powered 'Elephant Repellent Device' aimed at reducing human-elephant conflict.
Equipped with seismic and radar sensors, the system is designed to detect elephant movement quickly and with greater precision than conventional methods, offering an estimated accuracy of up to 80 per cent.
Once elephant movement is detected, the device activates a siren to drive the animals away while simultaneously sending alerts to villagers on their mobile phones. It also stores movement data on a web-based dashboard, enabling forest officials to monitor elephant activity and respond more effectively.
According to Shukla, the idea came to him during a visit to Rasabeda village while he was participating in the 'Young Change Maker' programme at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi when he was in Class 11. As part of the programme, he visited the village near Ranchi and saw farmers struggling with crop damage caused by elephants.
The experience deeply affected him, prompting him to develop a device that could alert villagers about the movement of tuskers while they were still at a distance from the village and help prevent conflicts.
After creating an initial version of the device, Shukla deployed it in the village, where it proved helpful for around 35 families. This encouraged him to develop a more advanced model.
Explaining the device, Shukla claimed that it is more than 80 per cent accurate.
"The device -- 'Innobox' -- is a solar-powered AI elephant repellent device with over 80-85 per cent species detection accuracy," he said.
According to Shukla, existing animal repellents often use motion sensors that activate sirens after detecting any movement, resulting in false alarms and faster battery drain. His device, however, activates alerts only after detecting large animals such as elephants.
"The device is equipped with a seismic sensor that detects ground vibrations caused by elephants and a radar sensor that captures waves reflected from the animals' bodies. It uses a machine learning model trained on data from wild elephants to accurately identify them. The alarm system is activated only after the model confirms the presence of an elephant," Shukla said.
He added that the device is solar-powered, making it suitable for areas with limited electricity and network access.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department has sanctioned Rs 1 lakh for the development of 10 AI-based elephant repellent devices after evaluating Shukla's innovation. The devices are currently undergoing field trials in PTR.
"If the trials prove successful, these low-cost devices will be deployed across the state to strengthen measures for mitigating human-elephant conflict," Chief Wildlife Warden Ravi Ranjan said.
Avi's innovation has received support from Emergent Ventures (USA) and IIM Ranchi, besides being recognised by Startups Jharkhand.
Avi Mohan Kumar Shukla has recently completed Class 12 from a Ranchi-based school. The 18-year-old now plans to devote a year to preparing for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance examination before resuming his academic journey at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he has already secured admission.
