I don't know if anyone is actually reading this right now, but if you are:
What do you think of putting some shelving in the shop? Like, some actual robotics shelving, it might just be a shelf under the table in the back, but we could put, for example, the stuff currently in the corner of the project room down there and free up some space. I think it would be fine down there, we'd just have to make it clear that other people shouldn't touch it.
If there's no room for actual shelving, we might just clear a shelf on that rack by the back door and mark it "Robotics," put the long pieces up there, and store the smaller stuff under the table.
Kersten