Autonomous BIM-Aware UAV Path Planning for Construction Inspection

Accurate 3D reconstructions of AEC structures using UAV photogrammetry are often hindered by occlusions, excessive image overlaps, or insufficient coverage, leading to inefficient flight paths and extended mission durations. This work presents a BIM-aware, autonomous UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) trajectory generation framework wherein a compact, geometrically valid viewpoint network is first derived as a foundation for path planning. The network is optimized via Integer Linear Pro-gramming (ILP) to ensure coverage of IFC-modeled components while penalizing poor stereo geometry, GSD, and triangulation uncertainty. The resulting minimal network is then sequenced into a global path using a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) solver and partitioned into battery-feasible epochs for operation on active construction sites. Evaluated on two synthetic and one real-world case study, the method produces au-tonomous UAV trajectories that are 31–63% more compact in camera usage, 17–35% shorter in path length, and 28–50% faster in execution time, without compromising coverage or reconstruction quality. The proposed integration of BIM modeling, ILP op-timization, TSP sequencing, and endurance-aware partitioning enables the framework for digital-twin updates and QA/QC monitoring. Accordingly, offering a unified, ge-ometry-adaptive solution for autonomous UAV inspection and remote sensing.