Behold, the ultimate storage box:
Pros:
Standard size, perfect for storage
Very strong and robust (I have yet to see one break)
–> Stackable to ceiling height
Come readily assembled
Easy to move
Free
Environment friendly
Bonus pro: You get to have friendly exchanges with your lokal store employees
When one thinks of implementing this and maybe contemplates combining it with one of those storage robots used in pharmacies, is when one knows, that one is wasting one’s precious time (life!) on stuff.
brack.ch is one of the largest Autostore customers in Switzerland. I had the opportunity to see the system ~10 years ago on a guided tour at Brack. The system is crazy. Small robots stack boxes all day long and automatically pick up boxes and store them away again. And when the robots have nothing to do, they move boxes so that frequently used boxes are on top again.
And what you don’t see in the video: Several boxes are stacked on top of each other, like a large silo. So the robot first has to move boxes around so that it can reach the boxes further down.
Video description:
Aautomatisches Kleinteilelager mit Fassungsvermögen von 62’000 (max. 86’000) Rüstbehältern (für 1 Produkt oder unterteilbar für 8 Kleinstartikel) zum Start und 70 Robotern, 25 Ports zum Ein- und Auslagern. (..) Kompaktestes Lagersystem: es gibt kein anderes, mit dessen Hilfe man so viele Behälter im selben Raumvolumen unterbringen kann.
The video is 13 years old. As far as I know, they had more things like this built after that.
Something like that for home would be a game changer! 
how deeply are they stacked?
Depends on the height of the containers. IWL says:
# Wie hoch kann man mit AutoStore® bauen?
Damit ist eine Rasterhöhe von bis zu 6,0 m möglich. Dazu kommt eine Arbeitshöhe von 2,0 m mit Abstand für einen Deckensprinkler, was eine lichte Gebäudehöhe von 8,0 m voraussetzt. Das entspricht einer Maximalstapelhöhe von 14x 425 mm Behältern, 18x 330 mm Behältern oder 26x 220 mm Behältern.
I think this is one of those “if I win the lottery, I won’t tell any body, but there will be signs”. The sign is I have this built under my house and have an automated stuff retrieval system!
The software is open source. There is no ‘buying it’
Weird. Why They go down and amazon goes up? Actually Amazon moves whole shelves.
Those videos reminds me the future of car parks (hopefully)
This one is from Hyunday, but I’ve seen better ones from China.
Back on topic: If it’s for the basement I suggest to have a look at Obi:
https://www.obi.ch/aufbewahrung-ordnung/regale-regalboeden/c/1320
Also you can swap .ch with .de and save a bit (and find more products).
