Field Safe: An IoT-Based Camera Monitoring System for Preventing Animal Crop Damage

Crop damage caused by wild and stray animals remains a significant challenge in modern agriculture, resulting in substantial economic losses and increased labor requirements for continuous field monitoring. This paper presents Field Safe, an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled intelligent farm security system that combines edge-based computer vision with automated deterrent mechanisms to distinguish humans from animals in real time. The proposed system integrates surveillance cameras, motion sensors, IoT relays, and deep learning-based object detection models (YOLOv5/YOLOv8) to accurately identify intrusions. When a human is detected, the system suppresses deterrent actions to avoid unnecessary disturbances. Conversely, upon detecting an animal, it automatically activates deterrent devices such as buzzers or flashing lights and simultaneously sends instant notifications to farmers via SMS or mobile applications for timely awareness and intervention.