This disclosure involves aerial robots that dispenses conductive filament or systems, methods, and software for support such aerial robots. One remotely powered aerial robot system includes an aerial robot and a power source. The aerial robot comprises a body, a first propeller coupled to the body and operable to provide thrust to the aerial robot, a rotatable spool coupled to the body, and a conductive filament that is dispensed from the spool by rotation of the spool is one direction and retrieved by rotation of the spool in another direction. The power source is coupled with, and remote from, the aerial robot via the conductive filament, where the conductive filament is operable to power the first propeller using power from the power source.