Transporting cylinders of compressed gas

A common, yet hazardous, method of transporting cylindrical tanks used to carry compressed gas involves rolling both tanks at opposite angles of inclination to the vertical. By propelling one of the tanks while maintaining point contact between the tanks, both tanks can be moved such that their centers of mass move in a straight line as demonstrated in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgn5fv__LAk

In a paper that has just been published

T. E. Honein and Oliver M. O'Reilly, On the Dynamics of Transporting Rolling Cylinders, [Open Access] Nonlinear Dynamics, 2024.

we explore the dynamics of the locomotion mechanism. A graphical summary of the paper can be found online:

Graphical Summary of "On the Dynamics of Transporting Rolling Cylinders"

In the paper, problem of supporting an inclined cylinder in point contact with a rough surface is first examined. The analysis shows that dependent on the geometry of the cylinder and the coefficient of static friction, a wide range of angles of inclination are feasible. The presence of non-integrable constraints on the motion of the rolling cylinder is explored using the concept of a holonomy. The problem of transporting two cylinders using the aforementioned mechanism is then analyzed with the help of Frobenius' integrability criterion for constraints and numerical simulations. The results show the mechanical advantage of transporting a pair of cylinders, the range of possible angles of inclination, and the forces needed to sustain the motion.