Apparatus and method for growing arthropods, plant including said apparatus

An apparatus for growing arthropods including:

• a case having a predetermined number of walls delimiting an inner volume, and
• a plurality of cells engaged to the case and housed at least partially in the inner volume, each of the cells comprising a hollow body defining a compartment configured for containing a predetermined amount of substrate for supporting arthropods,
• wherein at least part of each of the cells, in an engagement condition with the case and when said cell is at least partially housed in the inner volume of the case, is movable by rotation about an axis of rotation of the cell with respect to the case for mixing the substrate,
• wherein the hollow body of each of the cells extends along a development direction between a first and a second longitudinal end, wherein each of the cells is engaged to the case at said first and second longitudinal ends,
• wherein the hollow body of each of the cells has, at the first and second longitudinal ends, respective passage openings in communication with the compartment,
• wherein each of the cells comprises a front plate and a back plate respectively engaged at the first and second longitudinal ends of the respective hollow body occluding of the passage openings,
• wherein each of the cells has:
• at least one through opening defined on the front plate, configured for allowing at least the passage of the substrate from the hollow body to an environment external the inner volume of the case, wherein said through opening is arranged at a bottom portion of the cell,
• at least one selector carried by the front plate and proximate to the through opening, said selector being movable with respect to the hollow body of the cell at least between:
• a first operating position where the selector is superimposed to the through opening of the front plate for preventing the communication between the external environment and the compartment of the hollow body, and
• a second operating position where the selector allows the communication between the external environment and the compartment of the hollow body,
• wherein the selector includes a selector through opening offset and spaced from the through opening of the front plate, while the selector is in the first operating position and
• wherein the selector through opening is at least partly facing the through opening of the front plate, while the selector is in the second operating position.

An apparatus for growing arthropods including:

• a case having a predetermined number of walls delimiting an inner volume,
• a plurality of cells engaged to the case and housed at least partially in the inner volume, each of the cells comprising a hollow body defining a compartment configured for containing a predetermined amount of substrate for supporting arthropods, wherein at least part of each of the cells, in an engagement condition with the case and when the cell is at least partially housed in the inner volume of the case, is movable by rotation about an axis of rotation of the cell with respect to the case for mixing the substrate,
• movement assemblies each of which is active on a respective cell of the cells and configured to rotate the hollow body of the respective cell about an axis of rotation for the respective cell, wherein each of the movement assembly comprises a rotating element in contact with the outer surface of the hollow body of the respective cell for the movement assembly;
• an electric motor configured to active the rotating elements to move the hollow bodies of the cells, and
• a control unit configured to command said movement assemblies in a movement cycle including commanding each of the movement assemblies to move, relative to the case, the hollow body of the cell corresponding to the movement assembly, wherein the control unit is configured to perform the movement cycle at predetermined time intervals or upon receipt of a command signal, wherein the duration of the movement cycle is in a range of 7 seconds to 30 seconds.