HABITUS ARASTIRMA VE DANISMANLIK LIMITED SIRKETI

Their core work

Habitus Research is a Turkish AI and systems engineering consultancy based in Istanbul, specialising in the software and algorithmic layers of autonomous vehicle systems. Their work centres on how vehicles perceive their environment — fusing data from LIDAR, RADAR, and other sensors — and how control systems can remain operational even when individual components fail. They contribute research and analysis capacity to large European automotive R&D consortia, bringing expertise in safety-critical embedded computing and AI-driven perception into projects that are defining the technical standards for Level 4–5 autonomy. As an SME, they fill a specialist gap rather than driving full programmes.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first project (PRYSTINE, 2018) established broad foundations: semiconductor components, embedded computing architectures, safety-critical systems, and AI for automated driving — the full technical stack for intelligent automotive hardware. By their second project (NewControl, 2019), the focus had narrowed sharply to the application layer: fail-operational design, LIDAR/RADAR fusion, and highly automated vehicle-specific control. This is a clear deepening — from general-purpose embedded AI toward the specific reliability and perception challenges of L4/L5 autonomous vehicles.

They are moving deeper into the reliability-critical layers of autonomous driving — specifically the fail-operational and sensor fusion problems that must be solved before highly automated vehicles can be commercially certified.

How they like to work

Habitus Research has never led an H2020 project — they enter as a specialist partner and contribute targeted expertise rather than coordinating the programme. Both their projects are large pan-European consortia (86 partners across 17 countries from just two memberships), which means they are comfortable working in complex, multi-stakeholder research environments. This profile suggests a consultancy model: they bring focused analytical or research capacity to consortia that need niche AI/safety expertise, rather than driving work packages themselves.

Despite only two projects, Habitus Research has touched 86 unique partners across 17 countries — a sign that both PRYSTINE and NewControl are large, highly connected European automotive technology programmes. Their network is European in scope, centred on the automotive and semiconductor research communities.

What sets them apart

Habitus Research is one of very few Turkish SMEs active in EU autonomous vehicle safety research, giving them an unusual position as a bridge between Turkish engineering talent and European automotive R&D. Their specialisation sits at the intersection of formal safety engineering and AI perception — a combination that is increasingly required as autonomous vehicles move toward certification. For a consortium builder, they represent a cost-effective way to add genuine autonomous systems expertise while also meeting geographic diversity requirements with a non-EU partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NewControl
  Their largest and most recent project, focused on the hardest unsolved problem in autonomous vehicles — keeping perception and control functional even when components fail — giving Habitus a foothold in the most commercially critical layer of L4/L5 autonomy.
• PRYSTINE
  Their entry point into EU research, covering the full embedded AI stack from semiconductor components to safety-critical architectures, establishing the technical credibility that enabled their subsequent specialisation.