This is a really old Swedish washing machine that uses metal punch cards. The various cards have different programs coded into them.

For instance, the yellow card on the top is for color wash with a normal level of dirtiness. As the cycle advances, the different holes trigger cogs in the top of the machine that flip internal switches.

The photo below shows how the cards are fed through the top of the machine.

The machine is apparently from around 1959 and is called an Osby Automat.

Osby is a town in southern Sweden where this “hålkortsmaskin” (literally “hole card machine”) was built.