
Indian School Girl Creates Washing Machine That Runs Without Electricity - miaowmix
http://trak.in/innovation/indian-school-girl-invents-washing-machine-without-electricity-302013/
======
kokey
I have conflicted feelings about this. On the one hand it's nice to see the
creativity and spirit, on the other hand it's sad to have to invent solutions
for problems we should have stopped having a century ago, where the solution
does not free up time for other things.
[http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html)

~~~
r0h1n
Agree. Also, it's a bit misleading to suggest she's created a washing machine
that "runs without electricity". By the same logic, Fred Flintstone (or
someone in his era) should be credited for designing a car that "ran without
electricity".

At this stage of mankind's industrialization, it's disingenuous to look at a
human powered machine as an improvement over an electricity powered one.

~~~
acqq
It's a huge improvement over holding the stuff full of skin-attacking
chemicals in the hands for extended periods of time. Women in India and not
only there have to do that daily.

~~~
FooBarWidget
Because gloves are too expensive?

Never mind that though. Pedalling is a lot easier than washing clothes by
hand. It's better for your back too.

~~~
DanBC
Safety equipment is valuable. Thus, it is stolen or sold to get money to buy
food.

~~~
vinceguidry
It's not so much that they're valuable, it's that it's too easy for assholes
to insist that the poor girls doing the washing don't need / deserve them.

~~~
DanBC
Well, yes, that would be a problem.

There is a problem with risk assessment in general.

BBC had a few useful programmes. One was about young peoe visiting developing
nations to see how luxuries are produced. They visited the Accra toxic
electronic equipment dump. People take wiring and burn the insulation off to
get the copper. These cable bonfires release huge clouds of toxic smoke. Now
one has any kind of mask. The programme showed a boy smashing capacitors off a
PCB with a rock to sell them. I think, but do not know, that if je'd had a
pair of snips (for the compnent leads) and some way to get the copper / gold
off the PCB that he'd have had a more valuable resource to sell. It was a
profoundly depressing, distressing, view.

There was another programme called Welcome To India. This showed poor people
reclaiming gold. They visited the jewelery district and swept the roads. They
used acids and mercury and heat to turn this dust and grit into tiny gold
grains. Part of the process was taking aciding grit in the palm of their hand
and stirring it with their fingers. Again, no glasses or masks or gloves.

Indian bloggers - are there any good blogs showing everyday life in India? Not
just the poverty, but the life of a broad cross section of the population?

------
kamaal
Though this must be appreciated, but this isn't new. Even in India. This thing
has be done many times and failed to gather much support, basically at some
point you begin get frustrated to be putting so much mechanical effort while
an automated solution exists and can't be put to use because of power
shortage. Most people don't have hours to be cycling to wash clothes, because
if they wanted to- They might as well wash them manually with their
hands(Note, this is super common in India).

Its a bit like programmers doing manual work, what could be automated. And it
looks cheap and is frustrating.

Either way, India is in desperate need for energy related hacks. Solar energy
offers a lot of hope. Even things like LED lights, better battery technology,
bicycle pedal assists et al can do great help in India markets.

~~~
thewarrior
For an example of real original thinking from India see this

[http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-30/news...](http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-30/news/46828430_1_power-
supply-power-cuts-dc-power)

I tried posting it here but didnt get too many upvotes.

~~~
kamaal
Great Idea, but the initial capital expenditure will be very high and at some
time prohibitive enough.

I think the government can help in waiving off taxes for sale of LED
lights(This can cause great savings in power consumption), pedal assist
bicycles and for things alike.

Either way I don't think big changes will happen until we see great deal of
innovation in the energy sector.

------
jff
Everything old is new again:
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Washing_m...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Washing_machine.jpg)

~~~
spullara
One could argue that it was a pretty severe oversight in the original design
that you had to use your arms instead of your legs to turn that one.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v1rSA4FqlM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v1rSA4FqlM)

~~~
taktiktook
Not quite. Back in those days it was considered unladylike to use your legs to
operate a machine. First sewing machines used hand operated wheel to run,
which were very hard to use. It was only later people started to use the foot
operated ones.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jonescs.jpg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jonescs.jpg)

~~~
marquis
Legs in themselves were considered risqué. These sewing machines would also
have been covered with large skirts, much like the Victorian dinner table.

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Brajeshwar
Nice. This will also work well in places that has frequent power cuts.

It is kinda funny when I went back to my home-town. Most household have
Washing Machines lying around, unused because they don't have the power
required to complete a wash cycle.

~~~
kamaal
Forget home town, there are frequent power cuts in Bangalore itself. Most of
the time 12-16 hours during weekends. I used to get frustrated, as weekends
used to be my time when I wash clothes.

Now I have a clever work around, I just put everything in the washing machine
in the night at dinner. Then I just wake for a moment at around 3 AM and turn
on the washing machine and geyser, by the time I'm awake in the morning the
washing machine is done with washing and water is ready hot. I put the clothes
for drying and take a bath. By then the power is gone. But then after the
major chores are done. Who cares?

~~~
gohrt
Have people tried using capacitors or batteries to accumulate electricity when
the power lines are working? Is it too expensive/dangerous to help cover the
outages?

~~~
dredmorbius
On an energy storage density basis, liquid fuels and a generator beat
batteries by a long shot.

So if you want a dependable electrical system, you'll have a generator. You
might still include batteries and some form of power regulation to get you
through spikes and/or brownouts, but that's just a few miliseconds to minutes,
not hours. A generator and large diesel tank can run you for days.

------
marquis
It's not so much that this exists: it's that she built something. Kudos to
that.

Of course this idea isn't new. I use one of these when camping:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYq34Bxkp5w&t=3m55s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYq34Bxkp5w&t=3m55s)

~~~
masukomi
you bring that massive thing with you when camping?! ... I think we have
different definitions of "camping".

~~~
marquis
You've never been camping with 30 members of your family before huh.

~~~
joyeuse6701
really shouldn't be called camping so much as pioneering, or oregon trailing
;)

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gsk
This is great. Years ago I used to help out at Honey Bee Network
[http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/](http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/) and saw hundreds
and hundreds of innovative solutions by people from all over India. If you can
navigate the rather clunky interface at the website, there's a lot of great
solutions for problems that millions of people in low-income population face.

Here are some: Motorcycle cultivator
[http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/hb_inno_detail.php?ID=DTP0010000...](http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/hb_inno_detail.php?ID=DTP0010000004191&lang_name=en&page=1&search_case=cycle)

Bamboo bicycle
[http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/hb_inno_detail.php?ID=KNW0020000...](http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/hb_inno_detail.php?ID=KNW0020000000054&lang_name=en&page=3&search_case=cycle)

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ChuckMcM
Nice, my wife got a HandyWash [1] for camping and it works pretty well. With
the right sort of assists manual washing is pretty straight forward.

[1] [http://www.hometone.com/pressure-handwasher-a-handy-
washing-...](http://www.hometone.com/pressure-handwasher-a-handy-washing-
machine.html)

~~~
danielharan
Neat. How long does it take to do a wash with that?

~~~
ChuckMcM
Since we generally have nylon clothes while camping not long at all. I don't
think I've tried to wash denim in it. Basically it takes longer to dry
generally than it does to wash it. (and nylon dries pretty quickly)

------
known
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man." \--George Bernard Shaw

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sdfjkl
The first thing this made me think of was the countless old/broken washing
machines ending up on the dump, with perfectly intact, shiny stainless steel
drums that could've been used in this.

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chenster
Hey, loooky here, an electricity-free, zero-emission, exercise, "green" boat
made from bicycle!

[http://cubeme.com/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2009/06/diy_amphib...](http://cubeme.com/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2009/06/diy_amphibious_bicycle_made_recycled_water_gallons_1.jpg)

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enscr
Instead of running washing machines on electricity and then running on
electric powered machines in gym, how about manually cycling a washing machine
like this. You hit 2 birds with one stone.

Granted it's not practical in every household, but it's not a bad alternative
for some.

~~~
agumonkey
We need generic magnetic resistance (instead of weighted) machines charging
batteries.

~~~
enscr
I've wondered, but too lazy to calculate that how much electricity could be
generated by machines in gym. Probably not a lot, but the whole idea of a
green gym could encourage people to work out more.

Edit : Google search shows some in practice :
[http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2032281...](http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2032281,00.html)

~~~
VLM
It works for greenwashing as a marketing technique as you suspect, but the
energy cost of lighting alone exceeds the energy you can produce by leg power,
to say nothing of HVAC for the facility and water heater for the showers.

This is why we burn coal and uranium instead of forced prison labor to
generate electricity on exercise bikes. I'm glad of that.

------
jk
Please note that this is something Remya created around 2003; more than 10
years ago. I am not sure how it was posted in 2013.

------
virtualsue
My daughter has a small pedal powered washing machine that she uses in her
house in Leicester (UK). I liked the article and the girl's mechanical
ingenuity but the idea itself is very old!

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agumonkey
Next : use a set of rocking chairs connected to a flywheel distributing
kinetic energy to whatever appliance needs it, bring your family and enjoy.

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rlongstaff
The GiraDora manually powered washing machine was announced a couple of years
ago - I don't know what happened to it, e.g. did it never get funding?

[http://inhabitat.com/human-powered-giradora-washer-needs-
no-...](http://inhabitat.com/human-powered-giradora-washer-needs-no-
electricity-and-costs-only-40/)

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smoyer
Here's another example of a bicycle powered washing machine - in this case,
using the tub and impeller from one commercial machine:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYmK9Rsh4Pg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYmK9Rsh4Pg)

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eklavya
I think it can be improved so that you don't have to put the whole machine
between your legs by using more of the cycle (chained pedal rotation). Good to
see people trying to make lives better for themselves and their community.

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Hilyin
Looks awkward as hell, why not just connect a bike connected by bike chain to
the washer so your legs aren't all spread wide trying to pedal.
[http://goo.gl/K6W6gS](http://goo.gl/K6W6gS)

~~~
netchaos
There you go, the same girl. [http://azstarnet.com/news/world/perpetual-
paintbrush-bike-li...](http://azstarnet.com/news/world/perpetual-paintbrush-
bike-like-washing-machine-among-
finds/article_ae28ec90-2bb1-5680-ab80-55571f450908.html)

------
enscr
Cool but lots of similar stuff around

[https://www.google.com/search?q=bicycle+washing+machine&sour...](https://www.google.com/search?q=bicycle+washing+machine&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X)

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userbinator
You see odd but surprisingly practical inventions like these in China as well
- as they say, "necessity is the mother of invention".

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aditsgupta
Necessity is the mother of all inventions! I'm from India and I know how much
impact this might have on the rural community here.

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dotemacs
Anybody else notice that the water from the washing machine is being
discharged, untreated, into the stream near by?

~~~
kbutler
I expect that where only 14% of the rural population of India has access to a
latrine ([http://water.org/country/india/](http://water.org/country/india/)),
washing machine effluent is not a significant concern.

~~~
curiouscats
And how do you think it was without the machine? Often it is doing the
cleaning in the stream, beating the cloths on rocks.

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jqm
These things really work (I used one in an apartment).

[http://breathingwasher.com/](http://breathingwasher.com/)

And, they cost a lost less than that bicycle contraption. Takes about 5
minutes to wash a few pairs of pants and some shirts. Gets them amazingly
clean.

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cubancigar11
We had a project in our mechanical class to create 'stuff' using lathe machine
and what not. All 35 in our class were divided into groups of 3 and were
supposed to come up with 'novel' ideas.

5 groups (including mine) came up with washing machine :)

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mrmondo
I'm unsure as to why it's important to state that she is Indian in the title?

~~~
bliss
Nationality is a pretty common way, if not the most common way to describe
someone. What's wrong with it's inclusion?

~~~
heroh
he's likely mad that the new CEO of Microsoft is Indian

no more tech support jokes

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ragsagar
Couple of years before i saw a school kid with a grinder that works by
pedalling in Kerala state level science exhibition. It was very similar to
this. These sort of machines are common among these competitions.

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disputin
Not sure about invented. I guess it could be invented on a local scale, but I
saw something similar in South Africa in the early 90's.

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seshakiran
ok now. a satirical comment. :)

very good. now take this and create a company that improves your health while
washing your clothes. Affluent people will buy. In my earlier days, we used to
use something called as "hands" to wash clothes.

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Eye_of_Mordor
Does she plan on inventing one for ironing?

~~~
test1235
Yeah - you throw an iron and your clothes into a drum which you can spin by
pedalling.

The idea is only a prototype, however, and might need some fine-tuning.

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dalacv
didnt they have this on gilligan's island like 50 years ago?

