At the Brno Exhibition Centre, Maker Faire Brno 2025 gathered hobbyists, makers, students, schools, makerspaces, and companies. Robotics, drones, 3D printing, electronics, and space research projects dominated. Visitors saw everything from ideas and prototypes to finished products. Alongside ran GameDev Connect for game development, featuring Czech studios and indie creators.
Maker Faire is a celebration for tinkerers, inventors, engineers, and their communities. It brings together amateurs and professionals, students, schools, workshops, and companies. This year saw an increased presence of robotics, drones, space-related projects, laser systems, and smart learning tools built on commonly available hardware, with a noticeable greater integration of artificial intelligence.
The Czech Republic has a long-standing tradition in DIY culture: when market offerings don’t make sense due to price, specifications, or features, people often turn to creating their own solutions. Thanks to communities, tutorials, open workshops (fablabs), and services from various companies, practically anyone can dive in. With modern tools and equipment, even those less handy can participate, as many things today only require a digital design, leaving just the task of finding the right machine to fabricate it.
The Maker Faire series takes place throughout the year in numerous cities. The largest Moravian event is traditionally held in Brno: this year’s edition took place in Pavilion A1 and featured a diverse mix from student teams and university projects to small manufacturers and open workshops. The floor hosted around four hundred projects—ranging from custom 3D printers and robots to a model railway controlled by a mobile phone and a mobile fablab housed in a truck.
Simultaneously, in another wing of Pavilion A1, GameDev Connect ran, focused on game development—featuring some major local game studios alongside well-known developers from the indie scene.
At the pavilion entrance, visitors were greeted by the Prusa Research booth. It showcased the new Core One—a compact CoreXY machine focused on fast, precise printing with an enclosed build chamber. Alongside it ran the Prusa XL with a tool changer, which swaps the entire print head including the material, thus producing significantly less waste than single-head printers with standard multi-material printing. The updated Original Prusa MK4S was also present as the mainstream choice for demanding users. The booth also featured sample prints, including multi-color outputs, and filaments manufactured by the company.
Throughout the fair, the stage by the entrance hosted a steady stream of presenters. One highlight was the amazing Physics Theater—an interactive science show with live demonstrations of core physics phenomena (mechanics, pressure, electricity, optics, and heat). They even created a fire tornado.
A moment later, the electric-kettle race took over. The photos show the final with the winning kettle. Participants competed to see which kettle could bring water to a boil the fastest; both time and energy use were measured.
FabLab Brno presented a practical exhibition built around fast, short activities. It featured a specially modified trailer that unfolds into a full-fledged digital workshop/classroom after parking. The FabLab University truck is designed primarily for primary and secondary schools: it brings machinery and instructors directly to the location, requiring only a suitable parking area and an electrical connection. This creates a mobile environment for hands-on digital fabrication lessons without the need to travel to a stationary workshop.
Inside, visitors could see and sometimes try out a laser cutter, various types of 3D printers, a vinyl cutter with heat press, and a small modeling/CNC mill. Conceptually, it aligns with the equipment of the permanent FabLab Brno workshop, ensuring workflow and used procedures are compatible and transferable between the “truck” and the permanent facility.
The truck visits schools and public events across the entire Czech Republic; the goal is a “hands-on” introduction to prototyping and digital fabrication in a compact, instruction-led format. Even in a European context, it is an exceptionally large and well-equipped mobile workshop.
Around the truck was an array of classic tools, power tools, and products utilizing digital designs for manufacturing. The aim was to demonstrate that creating “real things” doesn’t require prior experience—just a clear procedure and a few minutes of time.
You could also build a rocket from PET bottles—using a bottle partially filled with water, which utilizes compressed air as the propellant. It launches from a simple ramp with a valve and safety mechanism. The launch is triggered by releasing a quick-connect coupling; the water acts as a reaction mass and the rocket flies on a ballistic trajectory. It also has stabilizing fins and can be supplemented with a simple parachute deployment mechanism for a soft landing.
In the workshop “Learning Through Play: Musical Instruments for a Good Cause,” created in cooperation with LEGO, children could build their own simple musical instruments and drums from LEGO bricks and recycled materials. The workshop supported children’s creativity and also highlighted the importance of protecting children from domestic violence, an issue promoted by the Bubnovačka initiative.
Additional workshops focused on AI, 3D printing, education, soldering, and repairs were held on the first floor of Pavilion A.
In the following sections, we’ll look at what anyone can make at home today with a bit of skill and know-how—or with help from AI.
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