RC All Terrain Academy

Learn to Overcome.
The question shifts from speed to survival — how engineers design machines that work in difficult places, and how those machines treat the land they cross.

About RC All Terrain

The All Terrain Academy shifts the question from speed to survival. Learners study how engineers design machines capable of operating in difficult environments — and how those machines interact with the land they cross.

Focus Area

  • Off-Road Engineering
  • Terrain Navigation
  • Recovery Systems
  • Vehicle Modification
  • Environmental Stewardship
  • Expedition Planning
  • Waterproofing & Sealing
  • Field Repair
Founded by Sensei Jeron Kalani Sambrano, Chief Executive Officer of Project K4.

Environmental Stewardship

Off-road operation is where engineering education meets mālama ʻāina directly. Learners are taught trail ethics, erosion awareness, sensitive-habitat avoidance, and leave-no-trace practice as engineering constraints — a vehicle that damages the ʻāina it crosses is a failed design, regardless of its capability.

Current Status — Stated Plainly

Like BreX, RC All Terrain Academy does not presently run as an independent programme. Its content is delivered within RC Drift School, which shares its equipment base and instructor, and within Hawaiʻi Space Voyagers, whose Mars rover work exercises the same terrain, traction, and recovery problems in a different setting.

The constraint is the same as BreX’s: Sensei Sambrano founded both RC programmes, and one instructor cannot hold two cohorts. The programme is therefore best described today as a capability distributed across two siblings rather than a standing cohort. Establishing it independently requires a dedicated terrain course, its own crawler fleet, and an instructor who is not simultaneously running drift sessions.

Together

The two RC programs emphasize mobility engineering and demonstrate how design decisions affect real-world vehicle performance. They also serve a practical function in the pathway: they are where abstract physics becomes something a learner can feel in their hands.

Description: Focuses on off-road remote-controlled vehicle design and operation while incorporating aloha and malama ‘aina practices and principles. Activities include:

  • Sciences: Studying the physics of vehicle dynamics and design.
  • Technologies: Using modern tools for vehicle design and construction.
  • Reading:
    • “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein
    • “The Science of Motorsport” by David Coulthard
  • Research:
    • Conducting studies on terrain navigation and vehicle performance.
    • “Automotive Engineering Fundamentals” by Richard Stone and Jeffrey K. Ball
  • Remuneration: Understanding the economics of vehicle design and production.
  • Engineering: Designing and building off-road vehicles.
  • Electronics: Integrating electronic components in vehicle control systems.  Lithium Ion battery technology and safety.
  • Arts: Creating vehicle designs, functional and non-functional  aesthetics.
  • ‘Aina: Emphasizing environmental sustainability in vehicle design.
  • Mathematics: Applying mathematical concepts in vehicle dynamics and control.
  • Mele: Exploring music related to vehicle culture. 
  • Mo’omeheu: Understanding the cultural impact of vehicle design and usage, including traditional Hawaiian values of resourcefulness and respect for the land.
    • Olelo Hawai’i: “Mālama” – To take care of.
  • You: Developing personal skills in engineering and problem-solving.