So there is a Zombie Apocalypse. The zombies are virus-caused, not supernatural, and the virus is only transmitted through a bite or some contact with bodily fluids. Not airborne.
So the question is, what do you do? What are your plans of survival?
And more specifically, let's suppose you had stocked up on Arduinos and other electronic supplies, and you have power long enough to make things that help you survive. What do you make?
Automated sentry guns all around the house.
I had the idea of putting motion sensors around the house, and if something is detected, all power if cut off in the house to shut off lights and sound for a while. Then something a few miles away, like fireworks would be set off to send the zombies far away. Don't know how effective it would be, but I'm psyched for when the Zombie Apocalypse actually comes.
Tight ring of motion sensors 1km from house. Mesh network, battery powered, solar chargers. Status change from one or two nodes = fight. Status change from 10 nodes or persistent status changes from a few nodes = flight.
If no one's home they'll keep on marching by 
Do PIR sensors detect zombies? They might be too close to environmental temperature. 
Do PIR sensors detect zombies?
Well, the zombie epidemic is virus-caused, so if they're still "alive" then I'd think they would have a body temperature close to ours, if not hotter.
Mowcius pays close attention to this thread.
Umm, automated pipe bombs, UGV with remote explosive devices and wireless camera etc.
DTV shredder to get around on. 
The UGV is still on my list to build (when I get the time and the spare cash) and I was going to give it some kind of payload dropper (so it can drop smoke bombs etc 
Mowcius
i would fire arduinos at them these things are so intresting that they will keep the zombies hooked up against eating me up ;D
i would fire arduinos at them these things are so intresting that they will keep the zombies hooked up against eating me up
heh ;D
Move everything I need to the 2nd floor. Destroy the stairs and install fire polls and ropes. You never see zombies climbing ropes or polls.
You never see zombies climbing ropes or poles.
Depends on where the zombies have come from
The ones in zombieland climb a metal fairground ride at least.
The last time I made a friend, the villagers showed up with torches.
I've always considered that sheer numbers always seems to be a major issue. One zombie is usually fairly easy to dispatch, but both variants (* your primary variants are your "slow" and "fast" zombies, or "shamblers" and "runners") tend to pose their greatest threat simply due to thousands of their grotesquely decaying forms coming after your fool ass at a time.
Projectile and explosive weapons, which are plentiful in post-apocolyptia (and in some cases, there are inexplicable ammunition vending machines, and something called "Thoracic reconstructive surgery in a can" I've heard) though both plentiful and spectacularly graphic, have the major drawback of needing ammunition, which of course you cannot carry even one round of ammo for each of the thousands of zombies after you. You are GOING to run out of bullets, even with the six hundred round clips that pistols all use, you can only carry so many clips. Simple math.. more meat than heat. (hehe I like that phrase, must remember it) Even if you live in one of these odd communities with vending machines for grenades and sniper rifle ammo, you'll never be able to carry enough change, or the damn bill thing will just keep on spitting it out over and over and over right when you really really need it to work the first time.
Mechanical devices are potentially a much better option, especially if one could construct some type of mechanism which either could operate continuously or self-reset in a very short time. One particularly efficient setup might consist of a hallway of sorts, equipped with high-speed rotating blades at various heights and angles, with a gutter system down the sides for keeping things nice and neat. Now, just put a nice fat baby or something at the other end of the hall, and maybe keep a firehose handy for the inevitable backup caused by hair in the drain. Never mind the hair is still attached to the head, it's still a hair clog and Drano is tough on clogs. The key is of course to keep the zombies running into the system to be efficiently dispatched and disposed of. Cooking would destroy any potential pathogen which CAUSES the zombie plague, so it should be fairly easy to keep a stable of nice fat babies. No worse than what McDonalds gives us every day.. and who's to say that maybe there's something to this lust for primate flesh-- zombies might be darn tasty. It's all about the sauce, like anything else.
Still, to my mind, directed-energy or fuel/air devices are probably the most dependable and sustainable. Systematic banks of flamethrowers, lasers (pew pew), or Masers (microwave laser, their heads pop like peeps!) would be the best, the flamethrower systems could provide the initial coverage while the Maser system was built by my ragtag motley crew of post-apocolyptic chums. I've not completed it yet, but I'll let you know I've even begun composing a jaunty tune to share while we work. Nothing like a catchy tune, while you incinerate the mountains of rotting flesh that extend as far as the eye can see, in my mind, anyway. Maybe we could do the tune with PWM!
Do I spend a little too much time thinking about such things? My response: "Only time will tell."
(Turns dramatically into the breaking dawn, winsome twangy music as we fade to black..)
What zombie rules are we following? General dumb as concrete or The Walking Dead semi intelligent/move quite well?
Im lucky enough to live near a gun shop(pretty rare in the UK) and the garden center down the road has some big solar arrays. I'd make a stop at each + the Tesco express at the top of the road then go home and set up.
I'd use the arduinos for automated sentry, solar charging management and more code transmission(with FM transmitter).
Arduino automated flame guns, triggered by laser trip wires. Anything not zombie that gets cooked can be eaten.
Anything explosive, projectile or otherwise physical is going to result in blood and gore. Zombie blood and gore is infectious, I don't want any of that near me.
I'd need a lot of fuel though. Maybe a distribution hub with lots of booze (over 40% so it'll burn).
I think anyone here concerned only needs to obtain some tin foil to fabricate into a shield that can be placed onto and over your head. Thus protecting one from such fears.
Lefty
IR / ultrasound sensors and high voltage
(Moo ha ah ha ha!!! ;D) ;D
Systematic banks of flamethrowers, lasers (pew pew), or Masers (microwave laser, their heads pop like peeps!) would be the best, the flamethrower systems could provide the initial coverage while the Maser system was built by my ragtag motley crew of post-apocolyptic chums.
Never use flamethrowers. Never.
Zombie coming at you
Use flamethrower
Now flaming zombie coming at you
I can't believe that people would hole up in their homes. "Home" implies "on the grid" which implies easy access (for humans or zombies.) If you're going to hole up, you want to do it some place hard to get to, like an island (ever see a zombie use a boat or airplane)?
ever see a zombie use a boat or airplane
No but I did see them walk along under water in the Land of the Dead!
Don't listen to that foil hat suggestion!!!!!!! Foil hats offer little real protecton to your brain from zombies. As a defensive measure against mind control and brain wave monitoring they are 60% effective though.
I would:
Find out cause of Zombies
Fly to CERN
Create a brief inter-dimensional rift
Get into the 5th Dimension.
Bend the 4th Dimension (Just like how we, 3rd dimension, can bend paper, 2nd Dimension.)
Make myself travel back into time to stop the infection.
If there is a cure, bring it.