GREENFIELD — Radial Dynamics, a Greenfield hydraulic engineering company, will steer its way into the future with its new high-tech manufacturing equipment, including a robotic arm that was purchased with the help of a $200,000 grant.

Eric Amato, an avid motor sports enthusiast and engineer, began his work designing specialty steering systems for off-road vehicles as a side hustle in 2019 before shifting to his business full-time in 2021 and buying his 5,300-square-foot location at 16 Butternut St. the year after.

Pointing to the site’s new computer numerical control lathe and mill — both purchased in a 50-50 split cost share with the Massachusetts Manufacturing Accelerate Program — Amato explained that the grant funding will allow his business the opportunity to manufacture parts in-house, rather than outsourcing manufacturing work to other counties and states.

The Massachusetts Manufacturing Accelerate Program aims to help small and medium-size manufacturers based in Massachusetts prepare their businesses to meet the demands of modern industry through grant funding.

The grant will also fund Amato’s purchase of a robotic arm, which Amato explained will allow the company to engage in automated manufacturing, in which the arm will place materials into the machines while unattended.

“We were kind of at the mercy of other machine shops’ capacity, scheduling and quality control in the years since launching the business,” he said. “I’ve worked with quite a few different machine shops, and it’s been a challenge to find ones where you can really trust the product that they’re producing for you and the lead time that they tell you.”

Amato first took an interest in off-road racing when he was in high school and continued to pursue his passion when he noticed that off-road vehicles’ large wheels made steering issues a common problem for off-road racers.

Due to the high level of horsepower needed to propel the vehicles, Amato explained that heat becomes a complication in steering systems. His work using hydraulics to improve off-road vehicles’ steering performance grew to become a thriving business that has worked with clients such as the Grave Digger monster trucks and the U.S. military.

“When I recognized that there was opportunity to make major improvements, I kind of jumped at the opportunity and spent a year and a half before I even launched the business, designing some prototypes and having those tested in the field,” Amato said. “The million-dollar race trucks that compete down in Baja, Mexico, and we have customers throughout the U.S. and even over in Australia — we’ve seen a lot of success there, with some of them winning some of the world’s biggest off-road races using our steering pumps. It’s been really exciting and a dream come true to make a living working in something that was initially just a passion.”

As he aims to expand Radial Dynamics, Amato said he hopes to dive into “smart steering” systems, such as “steer by wire” systems in which the connection between steering and tires is purely electric, with no mechanical components.

“We’re planning on kind of taking another step further to develop smart or active power steering,” he said. “We have some development projects where we’re going to be able to look at doing rear steer controls, so we can ... essentially have a variable steering ratio and greater vehicle control.”

For more information about Radial Dynamics, visit radial-dynamics.com.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.