"After working four years to develop their concept, students and staff at MIT built the pedal-powered washing machine primarily from bicycle parts and empty barrels. The machine was designed to be easy and inexpensive to manufacture, mostly using parts and tools that are readily available anywhere in the developing world. And since the machines can be made locally, their use can even generate new jobs. Dubbed "bicilavadora," which combines the Spanish words for bicycle and washing machine, the new invention got a stringent test last month when a team of MIT students took a prototype machine to an orphanage in Ventanilla, near Lima, Peru. With 670 resident children, the orphanage produces enough laundry to keep the washer perpetually busy."
This is a really great project which resulted from mentorship by Gwyn Jones, MIT D-Lab instructor, and ongoing involvement of originator grad student/alum Radu Raduta. And Lisa's part of the Global Cycle Solutions emergent development ventures team which is seeking to build and sell entire families of pedal-powered products for use worldwide. See also David Chandler's MIT News piece, Spin cycle: a new kind of washer, and the embedded video...
Have these MIT geeks never been to a museum? Never seen a dog treadmill? Why in hell would poor people want to pedal this bloody thing themselves when they can get the dog to do it? Or a pony?
This thing was in a frickin' Harrison Ford movie!!!!
I think we already have some really good washing machines that run on electricity.
Why not don't the brilliant students invent a way to get some electricity to the Lima area and then sell them some washing machines. Peru has a lot of gold to mine and sell.
Or is this another socialist university advancing the human condition in an environmentally friendly way?
MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, Enterprise Forum Global, Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, Muddy Charles Pub, African Business Club, Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development, Global Startup Workshop, Sustainability@MIT, TechLink, Making Progress, HighTechFever.tv, MIT Innovation Tours
6 comments:
Have these MIT geeks never been to a museum? Never seen a dog treadmill? Why in hell would poor people want to pedal this bloody thing themselves when they can get the dog to do it? Or a pony?
This thing was in a frickin' Harrison Ford movie!!!!
Absolutely clueless, this is good enough for them I guess, arrogant elitist.
I think we already have some really good washing machines that run on electricity.
Why not don't the brilliant students invent a way to get some electricity to the Lima area and then sell them some washing machines. Peru has a lot of gold to mine and sell.
Or is this another socialist university advancing the human condition in an environmentally friendly way?
I guess they do not have child labor laws in Peru?
Where do they put in the soap??? What...soap...DOH!!
Yeah....that's dumb.
Post a Comment