Automation Guide: Sensors, Relays & Actuators for Drought, Power, Production

Automation in Timberborn lets you turn game conditions into binary signals, process those signals with logic, and drive actuators to perform actions — enabling automated water management, power control, production scaling, badwater defence, bot logistics and more. Well-designed automation saves time, reduces micromanagement during droughts and badtides, and lets large colonies run efficiently.

Fundamentals: signals, components, workflow

• Automation follows a simple sense → process → act pattern. Sensors (sensing components) produce an active/inactive signal. Logic components (Relays, Timers) combine and transform signals. Actuators (Fill Valves, Throttling Valves, Clutches, Floodgates, Detonators, etc.) respond to signals and change the world.
• Signals are binary (on/off). Relays provide logic operations: AND, OR, NOT, XOR and Passthrough. Use AND when multiple conditions must be true, OR for alternative triggers, NOT to invert a signal.
• Connections are made in the Automation tool by selecting a component output and choosing targets. One sensor can control many actuators; a Relay can accept multiple inputs.

Sensors — what you can detect

Key sensors and typical uses:

• Depth Sensor: measures water depth at its location and activates when depth rises above a configurable threshold. Commonly used to automate Floodgates and Pumps (e.g., open floodgate when reservoir exceeds a chosen level).
• Flow Sensor: measures local water current (flow rate). Use it to detect when a channel is actively moving water (useful for Water Wheel control and verifying dam spillways).
• Contamination Sensor: detects water contamination level. Use it to trigger badwater diversion and intake closures.
• Resource Counter: monitors stored quantities of a specified good or storage fill rate; ideal for scaling production (activate extra Mills when Planks drop below X).
• Population Counter: activates when district population crosses a threshold — useful to scale housing, food production or bot assignment.
• Weather Sensor: detects weather/season state (drought onset, wind conditions) and can preemptively trigger emergency measures.
• Timer: cycles a signal on/off with set durations (useful for scheduled water releases, pulsed sharing of scarce power).
• API components: HTTP Lever and HTTP Adapter (unlock late). HTTP Lever accepts external API calls to toggle an in-game signal. HTTP Adapter exposes an in-game signal to external systems and can send webhooks; use these for dashboards or remote control.

Logic: Relays, Hysteresis, and circuit patterns

• Relays combine inputs and perform logic. Build cascading relay chains to create priority tiers (shut down least-important systems first during shortages).
• Implement hysteresis to avoid rapid toggling: use two Depth Sensors with different thresholds and combine them through Relays so systems turn on at a higher threshold and remain on until a lower threshold is crossed.
• Use Timers with Weather Sensors (Weather → Timer) to create temporary cycling behavior after a weather event (e.g., temporary rationing during drought).
• Use Resource Counters feeding Relays to automatically scale production: set counters to activate production when stock falls below your chosen threshold and deactivate when above.

Actuators: what automation can control

• Fill Valve: opens/closes to control water through a pipe based on a signal. Good for simple on/off routing.
• Throttling Valve: provides variable flow proportional to signal strength; use it for gradual refills or diversion schemes (e.g., slow trickle vs full refill based on upstream/downstream depth).
• Clutch: a controllable switch in Power Shaft networks. When disengaged it isolates power segments. Connect Depth Sensors, Power Meters or Resource Counters to automatically shed non-essential districts during low generation.
• Floodgates (and Double/Triple Floodgates): can be automated via signals to open/close at configured heights. Use with Depth Sensors to maintain reservoir levels.
• Detonators: trigger Dynamite fields for terraforming when connected to automation signals (be cautious — detonations propagate to adjacent charges).
• Other buildings (Gates, Distribution posts with Routes) can be automated to change behavior using signals where available.

Automation for water management

• Automate reservoirs and spillways: place Depth Sensors in reservoirs to control Floodgates or Fill Valves that release excess water only when needed.
• Flow Sensors paired with Relays can confirm a dam’s spillway is actually moving water before allowing downstream consumers to run.
• Throttling Valves are excellent for controlled rebalancing: combine an upstream Depth Sensor (sufficient supply) and downstream Depth Sensor (need) with an AND Relay. Configure On and Off flow values to provide full flow when needed and a maintenance trickle otherwise.
• Contamination Sensor + Fill/Throttling Valves: route contaminated water away from intakes or open bypass channels when contamination rises.
• Example drought circuit: Weather Sensor (drought) AND Depth Sensor (reservoir < X) → Relay → shut off non-essential Fill Valves, disengage Clutches to preserve power for pumps and food processing.

Automation for power management

• Use Clutches to split your power network into swappable segments. Clutches set to Automated can engage/disengage by signals (Depth Sensors, Weather Sensor, Power Meters).
• Power planning: calculate demand first; variable sources (Water Wheels, Wind) require generation equal to ~130–150% of demand to avoid shortages. Automation lets you shed non-essential consumers during low generation rather than starving everything.
• Pair Flow/Depth sensors on Water Wheel supply canals with Clutches to divert power to priority buildings when flow drops.
• Combine Power Meters, Resource Counters and Relays to automatically prioritize critical production chains (food and pumps) over optional industry.

Automation for production scaling and logistics

• Resource Counters are the most versatile: monitor Planks, Gears, Flour, Biofuel, etc., and activate additional production buildings when stock drops below thresholds. Set higher thresholds for goods that take long to produce.
• Example: chain for food scaling — Resource Counter (Wheat < 100) OR (Flour < 50) → Relay → enable extra Gristmill/Bakery Clutches or power circuits.
• Use District Center migration tools and Population Counters to balance beaver workers between districts automatically (configure desired minimums in the Migration Panel).
• For bot production: automate Bot Part Factories by Resource Counters monitoring Gears, Metal Blocks and Planks; keep buffers in local storage close to factories to avoid assembly stalls.

Automation for badwater defence and exploitation

• Build layered defenses: upstream dams/levees with Floodgates under automation to close during badtides (Weather Sensor + Depth/Contamination sensors).
• Containment and processing: Contamination Sensor upstream → close intake Fill Valve and open bypass Fill Valve. Route badwater to containment reservoirs and use Badwater Pumps feeding Centrifuges and Explosives Factories.
• Centrifuge automation: place Tanks near Centrifuges for input/output and use Depth/Resource Counters to keep Centrifuges operating when buffers are full/low.
• Use Throttling Valves for automatic diversion of fresh vs badwater outputs based on contamination thresholds, and Relays to coordinate multiple valves.

Bots: automation interplay and production

• Timberbots (Folktails) use Biofuel and Timberbots must refuel from Biofuel Tanks fed by Refineries. Ironbots (Iron Teeth) recharge at Charging Stations and draw from the power grid.
• Charging Stations draw power continuously even when idle and charge one Ironbot at a time; plan for one Charging Station per ~2–3 Ironbots and distribute them near work areas to reduce queue times.
• Timberbots refuel at Biofuel Tanks; place Biofuel production (Refineries) and Tanks near work sites or along tubeway stations to reduce travel.
• Bot Part Factory produces components; factories can only make one part at a time. Match production: three factories (each on a different part) feed two Assemblers for efficient throughput; Bot Assembler requires all components locally to begin assembly.
• Bots are 24/7 workers (not bound by work hours), have a fixed lifespan (70 days), and require a continuous replacement pipeline. Automate part production and assembly with Resource Counters so assembly halts don’t break your fleet replacement schedule.
• Use Tubeways and Tubeway Stations to speed bot movement; note Tubeway Stations can pass power to adjacent buildings but Tubeway segments themselves do not transmit power.

Common useful circuits and patterns

• Drought response: Weather Sensor (drought) AND Depth Sensor (reservoir < 50%) → Relay → close non-essential Fill Valves, disengage Clutches on secondary power segments, enable Timers for staggered water release to priority irrigation.
• Contamination bypass: Contamination Sensor → close Intake Fill Valve, open Bypass Fill Valve → switch Centrifuge/Explosives routing.
• Flow-based Water Wheel management: Flow Sensor near Water Wheel → if flow < threshold, disengage Clutch to non-essential consumers; else engage.
• Production hysteresis: Resource Counter low-threshold activates extra production; a higher threshold (through a second counter + Relay logic) deactivates it only after the stock surpasses a higher point to avoid rapid cycling.

Best practices and optimization tips

• Modular design: build self-contained automation modules per function (water, power, production) so testing and debugging are easier and failures are contained.
• Place sensors where they best represent conditions (e.g., Depth Sensors in the reservoir, Flow Sensors in the channel under Water Wheels).
• Always provide local storage buffers close to automated production buildings (Bot Part Factories, Centrifuges, Refineries) so brief haulage delays don't stop critical processes.
• Use hysteresis widely to avoid on/off thrashing.
• Monitor idle power draw from Charging Stations when using Ironbots and include that in your power budget.
• Test circuits on small scale before deploying colony-wide. Use Timers to safely stage changes rather than flipping an entire network at once.
• For long-term scaling, cascade relays into priority tiers so improving conditions bring systems back online in the correct order.

Automation turns reactive micromanagement into robust, repeatable systems. Start simple (Depth Sensor → Floodgate) and iterate toward layered, hysteresis-protected networks that keep your colony thriving through droughts, badtides and industrial growth.