[dkoneill]

Situation:
Alliance with two robots (third didn't show up) loaded both robots with a ball. Robot #2 placed the third ball behind their robot without touching the robot.

At the start of autonomous robot #2 backed up about two inches, grabbed the third ball, then drove forward, shot, then loaded the third ball into shooter.

Between pickup and shooting of their first ball the robot essentially had control over two balls simultaneously. It was very smart and effective!

Is this allowed by the 2014 rules?

Our reading of the rules says that the third ball can be on the field as long as each bot is only touching one ball at a time and the ball is placed between the white line and the truss. I've found no mention of simultaneous control during autonomous.