Automotive test system supplier AB Dynamics has opened its new Engineering Design Centre (EDC) in Wiltshire, UK, a £10m (US$12.3m) project which began in 2019. The company has built the centre in response to significant growth at the company, which has led to a requirement to expand its facilities. The facility has been fully fitted out, and engineering teams have moved in.
The facility will primarily be used to develop a new version of AB Dynamics’ driving simulator. The company supplies simulators to vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers and Formula 1 teams, including, the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen. The EDC is also being used to develop vehicle test equipment, which is used by more than 25 of the biggest vehicle manufacturers in the world and organisations, such as Euro NCAP, to improve the safety of vehicles.
“AB Dynamics has grown significantly over the last few years, and in order to continue that trend we needed to expand,” explained Mark Allman, managing director at AB Dynamics. “The EDC enables us to provide our engineering and software teams with a purpose-built, dedicated facility. By bringing the teams together under one roof we are able to improve collaboration throughout the company and ultimately develop better products for our customers.”
The building was designed to be sustainable and achieved an energy performance certificate rating of ‘A’. The solar panels atop the 3,000m2 facility create more than 60,000kW of electricity a year. The Wiltshire campus currently has eight electric vehicle charging points installed, with infrastructure available to expand this as demand increases. There is also a wild grass and flower meadow currently under development to encourage and protect wildlife in the area.
