ORLANDO, Fla. — For those who love do-it-yourself science, the Maker Faire Orlando welcomed thousands of people over the weekend at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.

What You Need To Know

  • The Maker Faire Orlando welcomed thousands of people this weekend at the Central Florida Fairgrounds

  • The weekend-long event is organized by the Maker Effect Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the goal to active and amplify the efforts of Makers as they learn, build and work together in their communities

  • At the Faire, people show what they are making and share what they are learning while showcasing their work

  • It has something for everyone in the family, from science to arts, crafts, technology, music and hands-on-activities

The weekend-long event is a family-friendly celebration showcasing crafts, technology, music, hands-on-activities and more. This is the twelfth year of the Maker Faire Orlando. 

“Our goal is to make sure that everybody has access to the tools, knowledge and resources that they need to bring their dreams to life,” founder of the Maker Effect Foundation Candy Cole said.

Maker Faire Orlando is organized by the Maker Effect Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the goal to active and amplify the efforts of Makers as they learn, build and work together in their communities.

They call “Makers” a group of parents, students, scientists and garage tinkerers who share a love for innovation, creativity and inspiring others to make something.

At the Faire, people show what they are making and share what they are learning while showcasing their work.

That’s the case of Jacob Rogers, who is a middle school teacher and robot builder.

“I started working with robots when I was in high school. I got tired of playing video games and I couldn’t see any of my progress and was all virtual. I wanted to build something real, something I could interact with, something I could show my friends and feel proud about,” Rogers said.

He took matters into his own hands and taught himself how to build a robot.

“I learned all this through the internet. I Googled how to do it. YouTube is your friend. You can learn anything on YouTube,” Rogers said.

That’s how he found out about the Makers community and decided to be a part of it.

“My first competition was actually here at Orlando Maker Faire back in 2016,” said Rogers.

Since then, he’s been coming back with a friend.

“This is Dropkick. This is my 3-pound combat robot,” said Rogers.

Dropkick is a combat robot, completely 3D printed on the outside with a laser cut weapon.

It’s all made by hand with everything custom designed.

Dropkick’s weapon spins at about 200 miles an hour and it turns things the pieces.

“We just have fun is such a nerve, a nerve-wrecking experience. You worked so hard on your robot and that can happen to it,” Rogers said.

The feeling he gets when he competes with Dropkick is unlike any other.

“We’re all about excitement. I want to keep it fun because that’s the heart of combat robotics is,” he said.

But the Maker Faire is not only about robots, it has something for everyone, they even had Bumblebee doing the cha-cha.