LA GRANGE Sure, they might build mini versions of the stuff in tech movies such as Transformers, but its not all fun and games for La Granges first robotics team. The team of four that call themselves the Cyborg Eagles pack a mighty punch.

Jonah Reardon, 14; Nate Wolcott, 14; Nate Reardon, 15; and Jack Ducham, 15 all from La Grange make up one of the smallest rookie teams under the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology program. Together, the young tinkerers have conceptualized and created a robot entirely from scratch and entirely by chance.

Ive always wanted to make a robot because I thought it would be cool, Jonah said. His brother and father, who are both involved in the team, planted that cool bug in Jonahs brain at a young age.

My older brother got into robotics ... so I wanted to join him, too, because I thought it was cool, Jonah said.

The Cyborg Eagles didnt start out as a quest to fulfill a robotics passion though. In fact, it was much more simple; a family affair spearheaded by the Reardon family.

Ive got some genetic involvement with a good portion of the team at this point, said John Reardon, the teams coach, and father of Noah and Jonah.

After about a month of making hour-long trips back and forth to the Technical Center of DuPage with his kids and their friends for fun, a counselor and now mentor to the team, suggested John start a robotics team.

We were kind of pushed into it, John said.

Soon after, the Reardon household quickly became the meeting site for all things robotics. The family interest spurred the launch of team. The Cyborg Eagles started as a FIRST Lego League team and advanced to the next level, a FIRST Tech Challenge team after only a year.

When we started building the robot, parts would go to different families to work on, John said. It became kind of like a family activity, which is one of the things I enjoy most about it.

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La Grange robotics club, the Cyborg Eagles, creating tomorrow's engineers