Wireless sensor systems are currently being deployed in a wide variety of lightweight mobile applications such as detecting degenerative diseases, monitoring remote habitats, and tracking the safety of housebound elders. However, current implementations suffer from short lifespans due to high energy use and limited battery size. To enter the consumer mainstream, these applications must be far more energy efficient. This project explores adaptable sensor-driven power management for wireless sensor systems as a means of increasing efficiency. Rather than fully activate nodes on a schedule or in response to very simple stimuli, this project explores an automated framework that we term "groggy wakeup," where the system is activated at increasing energy levels in response to evolving stimuli. This way, the system only becomes fullly awake when an interesting phenomenon is encountered, and resources are appropriately conserved.