quadrotor

noun

quad·​ro·​tor ˈkwäd-ˌrō-tər 

plural quadrotors

: a drone (see drone entry 1 sense 2) deriving lift from four separate rotors each oriented about a vertical axis : quadcopter

The University of Zurich and Intel Labs published their research in Science Robotics Journal … describing how they enabled quadrotors to fly autonomously through unknown and complex environments at high speeds using on-board sensing and computation.

—Matt Hamblen

The relatively simple and now quite pervasive quadrotor design for drones emphasizes performance and manufacturability …

—Evan Ackerman

Examples of quadrotor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Scaling up from a small model to a full-sized quadrotor biplane is much riskier, so the team is building an exact digital replica first. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Mar. 2026

By itself, a quadrotor of hopcopter’s size can stay airborne for about 400 seconds, while Hopcopter can hop continuously for more than 20 minutes. — IEEE Spectrum, 12 Apr. 2024

Drones with four rotors, called quadrotors, outperform birds in open spaces, per the statement. — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

quad entry 5 + rotor

First Known Use

2007, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for quadrotor

• premotor
• promoter
• promotor
• remoter
• boater
• coater
• floater
• motor
• rotor
• voter
• locomotor
• psychomotor