Team Profiles and Blog
Getting Started
This is FRC Team 3105's website, dedicated to give you the inside scoop on the happenings of the first Philippine team to participate FIRST (Foundation for the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. To get yourself started, try reading what the FRC is all about on the about page or our team page for an inside look into each individual member. For updates on the robot and progress reports, feel free to check out the robot timeline or our general info blog.
Thanks for the support!
Dean's Homework
2009
During the FRC Kickoff this 2009 , Dean Kamen offered a homework assignment to every student – to assist FIRST in building both a current participant and alumni participant database for FIRST.
Register at: http://FIRSTCommunity.usfirst.org
May 1, 2009
Along Destiny's Road - Cara Evangelista
The minute we stepped on the beautiful island of Oahu, a whirlwind of new experiences filled our days, from walking along the beautiful shores of Waikiki Beach and having surfing lessons, to visiting historical landmarks in and around the city.
Still dazed, we headed off to the competition
site to focus on the task at hand. Stepping inside the Stan Sherrif Center and seeing the field for the first time, it finally hit home for us… we were actually here and that it was time for us to prove ourselves worthy.Read More...
April 5, 2009
New Media On Site :D
We've just uploaded 2 new videos (courtesy of some kind-hearted video-takers at the FRC event) featuring our cultural presentation of Tinikling and the Awarding Ceremony at the final day of the FRC Hawaii Regionals. Also, a video from GMA News on QTV has also been uploaded for your viewing pleasure.
You'll also be glad to find that the press coverage portion of our site has also been updated with news and articles about Larry's Triumphant and unexpected victory. Yes, the country is as suprised as we all are.
Click here to view all new media...
March 30, 2009
Congratulations Team 3105!
Despite the long hiatus, we're making a comeback, and with great, great, GREAT results. But before that, let's recap.
The past few weeks after shipping were a blur. People took their time to catch up with academics and get their clearance ready before the big trip to Hawaii.
When we actually got to Hawaii however, we got the vacation we long deserved. It was two days of shopping, surfing, sunbathing and food. Ah, the food. What can we say about the food? It was the worst of times; it was the best of times. Yes, that quote applies perfectly.
But this post isn't about the surfing, nor is it about the food. It is about a group of students with a goal, and with that goal came difficulties, ups, downs and late night practice sessions in our hotel's parking lot. Read More...
February 17, 2009
He's leaving, He left, He's Gone. :(
Yesterday, although scheduled to return to regular classes, the Robo Team took their time to make last minute preparations before shipping Larry, that included primping up his crate, bonding and last minute practice sessions with the newly constructed trailers.
Half the team went to work, half the team started cleaning up and by 4:00 Larry was out of the ASTB Exhibit hall and on his way to be crated outside.
It was a very emotional moment. You never know how attached you can really be to something until you have to let it go. Although the emotional tapestry of it all was sometimes broken by short lapses to play with the bubble wrap, vain moments with the camera, messages of good luck and good tidings on the packing foam and Styrofoam, the presence of our favorite mentors and everybody who painstakingly gave their heart and soul for Larry made it all complete.
Goodbye Larry :(
February 15, 2009
Post-Valentines Madness
With a very convenient assurance and go-signal from Team 368, we're posting a new blog post. Thanks for answering our little query back there.
As a sequel to the pre-Press Conference havoc, the team encounters yet another obstacle in its way to shipping Larry the robot.
Yesterday, February 14, instead of taking time off for dates, fun, frolicking and romantic walks on the beach, we put off all Valentines' activities for work, sleepless nights and painful walks on stray aluminum filings. I'm kidding about the aluminum filings part, of course. But yes, instead of leisurely spending our time with our human loved ones, we focused all our energy on our mechanical friend, Larry.
Read full story...
ALSO, new articles and press coverage pieces have been added to our press coverage page. Go check them out!
February 12, 2009
We're just minutes away...
...from submitting the website to the FIRST awards, and in all honesty, we're not quite sure how to let go. Are we even allowed to post new blog post once the site's been submitted? We don't really know, but just in case we aren't, we're here to say a temporary goodbye.
Larry's going to be shipped soon and we'll all return to our normal schedule of classes, but I don't think our lives will ever be the same. At the mere mention of the topic of center of gravity, mechanics will stop to think about Larry. When our ComSci teachers talk about Boolean functions, our programmers will stop and ponder the nights they spent, sleepless and tired thinking of methods of execution, and whenever one of our team members blows a fuse on a toaster oven, we'll always think of those hours spent trying to figure out which wire connects to where.
Click for full post and Team Audio-Video Presentation
February 11, 2009
Insider's Look - Anton Tanquintic
One of the first things I'll have to say about this whole competition is this: "BOOM. Another step closer to Iron Man." Although it's obvious that achieving something like Iron Man is a lifetime's dream, we nevertheless have to admit that this whole experience is an ultimate undertaking and a great start. A team of around 30 students, all working and coordinating together to build a fully functional machine out of raw materials, not to mention literal blood, sweat and tears (Yes, all three of them.). As much as that statement is overused, it is in fact the truth. Now that's what I call dream-building in the lines of FIRST.
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology...
It can't get any simpler than that. Read More
Let the Games Begin
Earlier today, after our English Achievement Test if you can even call it that hehe.., the team began cleaning and prepping our practice arena for a round of unconventional practice games, for the benefit of those planning on representing the team in actual game play.
Needless to say, the cleaning was not easy. Thick grime had coated Larry's wheels and even MC Multi-purpose Cleaner didn't seem to help much. And a bigger issue was the arena floor. It had been worn out from multiple practice sessions and it was a miracle we had it cleaned out in time for the practice games. For this, we would like to give special thanks to Goma Hizon and the janitor for taking off extra time helping us buff and wax the grimy floor. Read More
February 10, 2009
Thoughts on PressCon
A few hours ago, we attended our first ever Press Conference, documenting and presenting our progress for the last 5 (6 if you count the week we spent waiting for the kit of parts) weeks. A lot of local media station representatives were there, not to mention newspaper reporters, journalists and camera men.
Needless to say, most of us were just viewers as opposed to people being interviewed. You could say we were there just for show. In all honesty, they could have gone the whole press conference without us even being there. But all in all it was a good opportunity for exposure - to tell and encourage people to take an interest in science, technology and robotics.
A lot of familiar faces were there, our director, a few TV personalities and of course, our mentors. Sir Dadios took the lead in explaining FIRST, FRC and how our participation came to be. He gave a pretty good overview of what FIRST was all about. Hopefully, this wouldn't become a repeat of the Umagang Kay Ganda incident.
Read the full story...
February 9, 2009
It's Called Pre-PressCon Havoc
When a day before your Press Conference about the participation of your team in the FRC, you find that microswitches need to be replaced, printing goes wrong and in the course of it all, your programming head suddenly gets hit by a window sending him to the ER to get himself 3 stitches, it's pretty safe to assume that you've got a case of the pre-PressCon havoc.
Disaster struck the team today when Charlez Verdad, walking leisurely around the perimeter of the ASTB Hall Conference Room, was hit by a window, suddenly opened by fellow Programming Team Member, Bianca Alba. Although it was a minor accident, the consequences were great. Charlez was taken to the hospital [conveniently a block away from our school] to get himself 3 stitches to the nose area of his face. Only a few members were present at the time the accident occurred, but from what we know, it wasn't as big a cut as it was deep.
Charlez, our prayers are with you.
On the brighter side of things, after having gotten in touch with a few of the teams that we'll be seeing over at the Hawaii regionals, we finally got a reply from President William McKinley High School - Team 368.
Continue for full email...
February 8, 2009
General Team Announcement
Aside from the fact that our site is FINALLY on Google directories, it's fun to know that yesterday, we received an email from Team 2504 - The Governors, one of the teams we will be participating with this coming March in the Hawaii Regionals. They're on their second year and share the same enthusiasm in this year's competition that we all do. They give us their best wishes and are very excited to have us in this year's Hawaii Regionals with another team from Mexico. Apparently, a number of members of their team are Filipino, so it seems that we'll be seing a lot of our brethren when we get there.
The email reads as follows:
Aloha from Team 2504!
Hey guys, we are the robotics team from Farrington High School in Honolulu, Hawaii and we will be participating in this year's FRC Hawaii regional. This is our second year competing in the First Robotics Competition and we are very excited about this year's game. During our rookie year, we were able to make it to the semifinals even though our robot was handicapped (in a collision) during the first rounds of last year’s regional. Read more...
February 7, 2009
Insider's Look - Juan Senga
For most of my years studying, I've never imagined that I would be part of a team that would make a real, moving, programmable robot that would be almost as big as me. Oh sure it's no Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it wouldn't be able to love just like WALL-E, but it's nonetheless a robot which would amaze any other person who'd see it. At first, I didn't think that the team could make such a thing. I mean seriously, we were high school students who knew very little about these stuff. What would anyone expect? We were even told that we were going to have to face opponents who are supposedly veterans at this. It was a huge gamble for people to spend time and money for a team of naive teenagers, a huge gamble for them to trust the glory and pride of our nation to a group of students who still can't vote in the elections. But it was a gamble that they were willing to take, so we thought of it as a challenge that we were willing to overcome.
Click Here for full story...
February 6, 2009
Larry and Kids - Public Presentation
Today at 3:10 pm, students from Liceo de Buena Vista, and Veritas visited our school to take a look at Larry. Larry has become increasingly popular since his last appearance just yesterday morning.
We were actually doubting our ability to be able to present on such short notice. People were scrambling to produce and copy evaluation, comments and suggestions forms to distribute to the audience, and Larry had to be reprepped after having been taken apart for maintenance.
We presented to them the purpose of FIRST, its history and this year's game, LUNACY. After which came a semi-interactive presentation between Larry and the audience, where he strut his stuff on the newly [partially] completed half-court arena.
Click Here for video and more...
February 5, 2009
Larry's first TV appearance, Misconceptions, and Free Stuff
This morning, at 3:30 am, the media representatives of Team 3105 gathered in the PSHS ASTB Conference Room, ruminating the impending doom, or fame of Larry.
The night before had been a roller coaster for some, and although sleepless nights are commonplace for the PSHS scholar, the preparations for Larry's TV appearance had been weighty, and fatigue had begun to take its toll on the members. A third of the team had taken an unexpected overnight stay, sacrificing much needed sleep.
The media van was waiting outside and the pressure was on for the mechanical team, rushing to refine larry and the electronics team securing the board onto the robot. The driver station was being safely packed and the media representatives ran themselves through a mock interview, hoping for the best.
By 3:45 am, the robot had undergone 12 hours of makeover treatment, preparation, and pimping and its entourage of parts and orbit balls were ready for transport. At 3:50 am, the mechanical team, and electronics team bid their last goodbyes to Larry as he was carted off into the back of the media truck. At this point, many things could have gone wrong. Read More..
February 4, 2009
The Robo Prom pics are finally up on the new section of the photo gallery. Hey, just because we're into robotics doesn't mean we can't dress up a little.
In addition to that, four more new videos have been uploaded on to our video gallery so check them out. The Mentor's Profile pages and Programming team profiles have also been updated so don't forget to pass by.
February 2, 2009
After all the post-prom madness, Robo is back in action. The prom pics aren't up yet, but we've uploaded two new videos to our media gallery, including Roger Remo Dandoy's inaugural video as featured member. Roger that!
For more of Roger and his Robo antics, visit the team section of our site.