Design Development of Cricket Breeding System

Crickets (Acheta Domesticus) are expected to become a common source for animal protein. As a consequence, the demand for better quality and higher quantities of cricket meat will increase in the near future. Therefore, the optimization and industrialization of today’s conventional cricket farming methods is becoming an urgent need. In order to design mass-production cricket breeding systems for large-scale farming to fulfil the needs of this emerging industry, a series of design developments were made following the findings from several study-trips in existing cricket farms in Thailand. To improve the habitation and hygiene conditions of farmed crickets, a study about space oriented towards polyhedron scaffolding structures realized with 3D printing technologies has been conducted. The study observed that the behaviour of crickets in truncated octahedron scaffolding structures allowed comfortable movement among the different cells. This has resulted in a better density occupation by crickets. Furthermore, the truncated octahedron scaffolding structure proved itself as a convenient modular space that can be easily reduced or expanded in a vertical fashion. This modular structure addresses the issues concerning increased harvesting rates, lower environmental burden, better hygiene and safer produce, while minimizing footprint. The results of the study described in this paper have the potential of positively contributing to the emerging industry of cricket farming.