[@Muttonhawk]

Okay, I researched this a bit. From what I gather, you want a word with the rough meaning of "operated from the inside/from within"

To start off, we have to examine the etymology of: [b]automaton [/b]

[b]automaton[/b] is the Latinized form of [b]αυτόματον[/b], which is the neuter form of [b]αυτόματος[/b], meaning "acting of one's own will"

[b]αυτόματος[/b] splits into two words, [b]αυτός[/b] and [b]μέμαα[/b].

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[*][hider=αυτός]
The intended sense of [b]αuτός[/b] is generally defined by its grammatical context. When used as a lone nominal without an article, it is generally the third person personal pronoun. When appended to a nominal and not possessing the definite article, it is "self". When combined with the definite article, either appended to a nominal or on its own, it is "same".

Thus, in this case, its meaning is [b]self[/b] (and "with my own volition, without the help of anyone else, alone" etc.)
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[*][hider=μέμαα]
As for [b]μέμαα[/b], its was a word first used by Homer in Illiad, and its rough meaning is [b]"to wish eagerly, strive, yearn, desire etc."[/b] In modern greek, this is the [b]-μώ[/b] in [b]επιθυμώ[/b], which has the same meaning of [i]yearn, desire.[/i]

Now, let's take the meaning if automaton: [b]acting of one's own will[/b].

The keyword here is [b]will[/b].
[list][*]In it's verb form, its meaning is [b]"to wish; desire"[/b]
[*]In its noun form, its meaning is [b]"the act or process of using or asserting one's choice; power of choosing one's own actions; purpose or determination"[/b] and last but not least [b]"wish or desire."[/b][/list]
So you see that they have roughly the same meaning.

There are many words for [b]will[/b]. There is the latin [b]animus[/b], the greek [b]βουλή[/b] (voo-lee), [b]ἰότης[/b] (iotis), [b]ἔλδωρ[/b] (eldor), and [b]ἱμείρω[/b] (imero). All of those have the same meaning of 'will, desire, longing etc.'
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With the help of the above, we can interpret "operated from within" as "having the will on the inside"

[b]esomaton[/b], the word you came up with can be considered to have that meaning, although [b]endomaton[/b] would actually be more accurate and better suited to describe what you want. Now, endomaton does not exist as a Greek word, so I do not know if its meaning would be exactly what you want. However, I am quite sure that it's close to the meaning of "operating from within"
I will continue to research this, if you want, and come back to you later with the results.