A group of French students designed and invented the washing machine. It's all made of very readily available materials: bicycle wheels, bamboo, wood and solar panels. It works like a modern drum washing machine: an electric motor uses electricity from a solar panel to turn a cylinder made of wheels and bamboo tubes below, and the clothes inside are cleaned. Because it is simple and easy to manufacture, it can provide a convenient new way to wash laundry in remote areas where washing machines are lacking.