D.Gray-man DreamWidth

ok, golems. adorable, lil bat winged communication devices and mascots.  however, im getting absolutely no where in figureing out what the heck the dgm fandom thinks they're made of. in vol 1, hoshino sensei said that most "science" of the time was alchemy. golems are a product of alchemy, arnt they?  then WHY do people keep referring to them like they're small robots or computers? >.>; timcampy is obviously not a machine, a machine doesnt repair itself, and he has no gears inside as seen when hes crushed. the other golems might have gears, but i honestly doubt any of the robotics in this series are run completely on electricity. so i need to ask: are the golems and komarin proven to be run on electricity, or is it the power of chemicals and alchemy?