

Maker Faire Orlando will take place at the Central Florida Fairgrounds Nov. 4–5. (ROBERTO GONZALEZ/COURTESY OF MAKER EFFECT FOUNDATION)
Maker Faire Orlando returns in early November to the Central Florida Fairgrounds. Now in its 12th year, the celebration — of and for creatives who tinker, craft, dabble, invent, hammer, collect and make — promises to have a lot of the exhibits that people have come to expect while adding some new elements.
Looking back, it seems appropriate that an event where people can watch armored knights duel — or giant robots fight each other — was inspired by a kid.
On a whim, Ian Cole took his oldest son out of school and traveled to San Fransisco to attend Maker Faire Bay Area in 2011. The event — started in 2006 by the editors of the magazine named Make: — grew quickly to a multi-weekend event that hosted more than 120,000 visitors…