Automated path‐planning strategy for robotic inspection of underground utilities based on building information model

This paper proposes a fully automated end‐to‐end inspection‐path‐planning strategy for underground utilities, such as pipelines, based on building information modeling (BIM). An automatic extraction method is developed to process utility information from BIM models, using a registration step that pairs each pipeline with its corresponding utility branch. This is followed by geometric modification via offset algorithms that account for obstacle dimensions to generate safe navigation paths. A novel inspection algorithm, the utility‐Chinese postman problem (U‐CPP), is introduced to generate a topological map and ensure full‐coverage inspection. A Dynamo prototype integrates all these algorithms, minimizing manual intervention and achieving full‐process automation. The method is validated with three real‐world utility BIM models featuring diverse cross‐sectional configurations. The U‐CPP algorithm achieves 100% coverage with minimal repetition rates and computes optimized inspection paths in 24, 23, and 23 ms. Results demonstrate that the proposed strategy efficiently automates both information extraction and full‐coverage path planning. The U‐CPP algorithm proves to be robust, computationally efficient, and effective in handling diverse utility configurations.