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Bristol’s Dynisma switches to PTC to maximise its new Technology Campus investment

A South West engineer is helping the world’s best Formula 1 and motorsport teams shave valuable milliseconds off their lap times, while also enabling automotive manufacturers to develop new vehicles more efficiently.

Ash Warne, who has more than ten years’ experience in leadership and operational roles at McLaren and Ferrari F1 teams, is ensuring his rapidly growing business, Dynisma, is setting the standard when it comes to dynamic simulators thanks to a unique ability to deliver a combination of greater bandwidth and ultra-low latency.

His company, founded in 2017 in a small unit in Bristol, is now seen as a world leader in this critical technology having developed several bespoke simulators for the likes of Ferrari, PREMA Racing, and an increasing clutch of car makers.

The industry-leading motion platform puts the Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) like never before, offering up to 100Hz in bandwidth, 3-4milliseconds of latency and unlimited 360-degree yaw excursion.

When combined this provides accurate vehicle motion and visual cues, and removes any delay from the driving experience, meaning the user can get as close as possible to the real experience of testing out different tracks and conditions.

Dynisma’s offering is in high demand, and this has compelled a switch of its main design software and product lifecycle management platforms to PTC’s cloud native Onshape and Arena solutions.

It is a decision that is enabling greater efficiency during the design and build process - delivering faster modelling and increased collaboration across its world-class engineering team.

“It has been a real game-changer adopting a solution that can be executed so efficiently in the cloud,” explained Matt Bell, Head of Mechanical Engineering at Dynisma.

“Together, Onshape and Arena help us manage parts and assemblies really well, and branching, in particular, allows easy exploration of concept ideas without affecting existing prototypes. The Master Sketch/Model Method is also good for layout designs.”

He continued: “Collaboration is vital in what we do. Our designers and engineers need to be able to run through different ideas and tweaks in real time, and what we’ve been impressed with so far is the configuration management of all the different parts.

“Being in the cloud means we can access our product information anywhere in the world and there is an extremely efficient way of logging any changes, meaning everyone is working on the right design and at the right time.”

A turn-key simulator solution from Dynisma typically starts at £2.5m but can quite easily fetch £9m for some of the more complex motion generators and visualisation solutions built to date, including the DMG-360 with its infinite yaw for automotive and motorsport.

Interest in the technology is not purely reserved for the motorsport arena with some of the world’s biggest car makers now keen to use the simulators to test drive concept cars before they enter main production.

This additional marketplace has driven the need for a significant investment in a brand-new state-of-the-art Dynisma Technology Campus on Redwood Lane, Barrow Street, just a few miles from the existing facility near Bristol Airport.

The 15,000 sq ft hub was officially launched in September and hosts dedicated engineering and manufacturing centres and a world class demonstration facility where OEMs and motorsport teams can walk through projects.

It is anticipated that the expansion has already created 40 new roles, with a further increase in headcount expected in 2024.

“We are at a very exciting stage in our growth, and we need to scale up quickly, safe in the knowledge that our design and PLM solutions can come with us on the journey,” added Ash.

“What we’ve seen so far from PTC leaves us in no doubt that we have got the right partner and we look forward to challenging how far we can stretch the software’s capabilities.”

PTC, which is one of the world’s leading specialists in digital transformation, has been working with Dynisma for nearly a year now.

A dedicated team of experts were appointed to help with the Onshape and Arena Connection, delivering extensive training and support through the implementation.

There is also a 2-hour response time in place for any technical issues and this has ensured that simulator prototyping and builds have been completed on time and to budget.

Jon Hirschtick, EVP at PTC, went on to add: “Dynisma is pushing the boundaries of simulation innovation and, to achieve the level of performance, it requires a SaaS design and development platform that is robust and can be tailored to suit specific requirements.

“We have met all of the challenges thrown at us so far and are delighted to be delivering the level of functionality and collaboration its engineers have demanded.”

He concluded: “It’s fantastic watching the F1 races and knowing that, in some small part, PTC is helping some of the best drivers to stay safe and achieve breath-taking times.”

PTC provides a host of technology solutions to help industrial companies create value through the use of Augmented Reality, Industrial IoT, Product Lifecycle Management, Product Data Management, and CAD solutions.

A special ThirdAngle podcast to mark the relationship between PTC and Dynisma can be downloaded at www.ptc.com/en/resources/corporate/podcast/third-angle/episode-21

For further information, please visit www.dynisma.com. More details on PTC, can be found at www.ptc.com or follow @ptc on twitter.

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