It is no secret that Amazon makes heavy use of robots in its warehouse automation process. Short shelf-carrying bots scurry around on the floor to bring products to staff that pick items from bins. Carrying smaller shelves is easy, but there gets to be a point where it is more practical to stack pallets on taller shelves. At the cross over point where forklifts are necessary, most businesses would just hire a few drivers and continue with their operations. Amazon is now making investments into French robotics firm Balyo in order to gain access to technology that can turn regular forklifts into self-driving forklifts.

Amazon could build a stake of almost a third in warehouse robotics firm Balyo in the next seven years, as part of a deal that could boost sales of the French company's technology for self-driving forklift trucks. Warehouse automation is a key element in efforts by Amazon to cut costs and speed up deliveries. The world's biggest online retailer currently uses robots developed by Kiva Systems, a company it bought for $775 million in 2012. Amazon could build a stake of almost a third in warehouse robotics firm Balyo in the next seven years as part of the new deal. 'This agreement ... represents an unprecedented opportunity for Balyo to grow its business and supports the soundness of our investments over the years to perfect our robotic solutions,' Balyo Chief Executive Fabien Bardinet said on Thursday.

We give an overview of SAT Competition 2016, the 2016 edition of thefamous competition for Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers with over 20 years of history. A key aim is to point out ``what's hot'' in SAT competitions in 2016, i.e., new developments in thecompetition series, including new competition tracks and new solver techniquesimplemented in some of the award-winning solvers.