Automation Techniques: Practical Notes
Use leftover pulleys, gears, or belts from old machines—these mechanical parts simplify creating kinetic triggers or timed releases.
Ancient societies used water clocks (clepsydras) and sun dials—primitive automation of time measurement. Adapt these concepts for triggering actions at certain times.
If you have a small supply of magnets and metal switches, create a reed switch system to turn on lights when doors open automatically.
If greenhouses are part of your plan, rig a thermal-triggered vent using a wax-filled cylinder that expands with heat, pushing open a shutter.
If no advanced gear, a simple sand hourglass can still schedule tasks—flip it and when sand runs out, switch tasks.
Attach a small wheel to a stream’s flow—this waterwheel can lift a tiny lever that pours feed into an animal trough at intervals.
Wind-up music boxes and mechanical timers used in kitchens are micro-automation devices you can repurpose.
Keep a journal of each automation system’s performance—note failures and improvements to refine efficiency.
Combine multiple triggers: a morning temperature rise triggers a bimetal strip bending, opening a vent, and letting fresh air in without manual labor.
Leveraging Any Available Technology
If Partial Power Survives: Solar-Powered Controllers: A small solar panel can power a microcontroller (like a Raspberry Pi or Arduino) programmed pre-collapse to run timers or sensors.
Offline Timers and Relays: Mechanical timers or battery-powered switches can regulate lights or pumps.
Repurposed Devices: Old Wind-Up Timers (Kitchen Timers): Use them to release a latch at set intervals for drip feeding animals or adjusting shutters. Thermostats and Thermometers: Even basic bi-metallic strips (found in old thermostats) expand and contract with temperature changes, switching systems on/off.
Keep any salvaged electronics or mechanical devices. A broken alarm clock gear can become a key component in a time- based feeding system.
Psychological Upside of Automation
Reducing Mundane Chores: Freeing Mind for Strategy: Less time doing repetitive tasks boosts motivation and reduces mental fatigue.
Celebrate each automation success. A small improvement—like a self-filling animal water trough—makes life easier and morale higher.
Automation isn’t about luxury; it’s about expanding your capacity to handle survival tasks. By applying mechanical principles, leveraging environmental cues, and using minimal technology, you transform repetitive chores into autonomous functions. These techniques free your time, reduce fatigue, and strengthen your overall resilience. With patience, creativity, and iterative refinement, you’ll craft a living space that runs smoother, letting you devote more attention to strategic decisions and long-term goals in an uncertain world.
System Redundancy and Backup Power
Manual Overrides: Ensure doors and windows still function manually if smart locks fail.
Physical Switches: Fallback to Simple Switches: In case electronics fail, maintain physical light switches or mechanical thermostats as backups.
Sense of Normalcy: Retaining Some Comforts: Automated coffee machine (if you still have coffee) or timed lighting can bolster morale by preserving a semblance of pre-collapse life.
Automate a reminder before automating a decision
A low-risk starting point is a visible indicator showing when a consumable reaches a chosen reorder point. A mark on a storage bin or a dated card can prompt a person to check the remaining stock. The person still decides whether the item is needed and whether the record is accurate. Compare the reminder with actual use for several cycles and adjust the trigger if it regularly arrives too early or too late. Simple automation should expose its state and be easy to override. Hidden mechanisms that nobody understands can replace a small routine task with a larger maintenance burden.