We have different types of storage that we use for building robots. This github repository will document the overall storage plan. If it helps your team, drop us a note to let us know!
This pdf file is an index of all of our storage. It will be referenced a couple of times below. You may want to download the pdf to your computer so you can open it in an app of your choice.
These are the bins each of our team members use to build their robots. We like them because they are small enough to not take up a lot of space on a table, and the handles make them easy to carry.
Amazon link (Tray size 12"L x 10"W x 2"H)
We have eleven bins, each with a different color. In some cases, pieces aren't available in certain colors, so we substitute those pieces with gray ones (there are no lime green 9-beams, for example. Lego doesn't make them, or they are very rare and expensive). Here's what a bin looks like when it is filled. The team member can take this bin to their desk while they are building. There is a list of all of the colors we use in the pdf.
As you can see, each bin has all of the beam sizes 3-15, plus the 3x5 and 2x4 liftarms. We also have some 5x7 frames, regular black pegs and long blue pegs. Most of the time these are enough colored parts for each member to complete the season, but sometimes they need more. Should a team member need more colored beams, we have spares stored in a fifteen-bin rack like this:
We put extra colored beams in the different bins here, just in case someone needs them. Amazon link
Next, we have the bins that we use for storing all of the assorted pieces we need to build our robots. Normally these stay on the storage rack, or on a desk that is exclusively for looking through bins. We have sixteen different bins, each storing a different type of piece
Amazon Link (Tray Size: 14"x8.25"x1.75")
And these are pictures of bin #10
All of the other bins are basically the same. Just look at the pdf to see what all we have in them. The bins outlined in purple indicate which pieces have "deep storage backup" in other bins as described below. We looked very carefully at ways to group and segregate the different technic pieces. We basically looked at each connector and noted if it had a regular pin and/or pin hole, and axle pin and/or pin hole. We have bins for each of those: regular pin, regular pin hole, axle pin, and axle pin hole. If a connector had more than one of these features, that connector would actually go in both bins. It's not a perfect solution, but it works. THen we have bins for all of the other pieces that makke sense, such as axles, small wheels, gears, etc.
We have some other storage for various other things. These bins are not standardized like the other bins. Some are the large Lego bins that our robots and expansion sets are shipped to us in (since all of the pieces are moved to our other storage as described here, we can use the bins for some other storage). Others are small food bins (like Tuperware). It just depends on what it is. Some of the bins get used a lot, like the ones that hold our "H's" and "waffles". We have a bin for black pegs that team members can use to replenish thier build bin as needed, so it gets used pretty often. Others don't get opened very often at all. Some are used for "deep storage backup" and probably get opened once a year for us to add more pieces as we collect them from last year's field kit. There is a list of all of the bins at the back of the pdf.
