The Fourth Industrial Revolution is transforming global industries. However, Latin America faces significant challenges in adopting these technologies. Particularly, small- and medium-sized enterprises constitute the backbone of the economy in the region. This study analyzes the technological gap between Latin America and more developed regions, focusing on public policies, infrastructure, and gap-closing training. Based on a systematic literature review and secondary data analysis, this research highlights key indicators such as digital infrastructure, investment in research and development, and the effectiveness of government strategies in promoting Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. Results reveal that Latin America lags behind Europe and Asia in applications related to Internet of Things, cloud infrastructure, and artificial intelligence. However, there are opportunities for improvement through targeted public policies, increased investment in research and development, and enhanced collaboration between the public and private sectors. The study concludes that bridging the digital divide requires a holistic approach that includes improving infrastructure, fostering digital skills, and creating favorable regulatory environments. This research stands out from similar studies by providing a detailed analysis of the regional barriers to adopting Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 and offering concrete recommendations for policymakers.

The usage of unmanned aircraft systems to complete routine, commercial, and industrial tasks has increased throughout the world, evidencing better profitability and reducing risks for operators. However, in some countries, there is a low implementation of unmanned aircraft systems, particularly in the electrical sector, due to a lack of appropriation or adaptation of technology to the local environment. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis of the uses of unmanned aircraft systems in the electrical industry worldwide and its possible application to a local context to identify how the expansion of unmanned aerial vehicles is helping various industries. The contribution of this paper is to show how the employment of unmanned aerial vehicles can help in any particular task in the electrical sector and the appropriation of these technologies in a country, showing a possible categorization of unmanned aerial vehicles based on future applications and current regulations. The analysis was carried out in the Colombian context, considering the current regulation and the impact of its use. This research considers safety, security, and privacy implications, including the reduction of personal harm with low operation costs. In addition, the importance of future implementations in Colombia is discussed as a topic of interest for any electrical company, researchers, and government entities.

Los métodos de enseñanza contemporáneos a menudo no consiguen atraer a los estudiantes de ingeniería debido a la falta de integración entre los contenidos prácticos y las técnicas interactivas. Este artículo presenta el diseño y la aplicación de un nuevo método de enseñanza-aprendizaje, denominado "Integración de conocimientos y articulación de recursos", cuyo objetivo es combinar aspectos teóricos y prácticos de los sistemas de energía eléctrica. El método consta de tres secciones: pre-laboratorio, laboratorio y post-laboratorio. Cada sección presenta momentos pedagógicos que utilizan técnicas como el aprendizaje activo, la enseñanza afectiva y la gamificación para crear una experiencia de aprendizaje significativa y motivadora. Esto se consigue mediante el uso de vídeos, juegos educativos, lecturas cortas y actividades que animan a los estudiantes a continuar sus estudios e investigar más sobre los conocimientos adquiridos. El método pretende emular situaciones reales del sector productivo.

In this paper, the transformation of a set of synchronous machines in a workstation that integrates modern technology is presented. The transformation is realized following a paradigm composed by four characteristics: Industrial equipment incorporation; variables visualization, monitoring, and registration; safety and ergonomics; and connectivity and communication. The incorporation of industrial equipment is illustrated using pictures and schematic diagrams. The workstation improves traditional laboratory practices and creates the opportunity for new laboratory tests motivating the students to involve in the topic of synchronous machines. The results presented in this paper make evident the opportunities that arise when updating a set of synchronous machines that exist in power engineering laboratories for teaching.

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles has led to an increasing number of lithium-ion (Li-ion) and lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries reaching the end of their automotive service life while still retaining between 70% and 80% of their nominal capacity. Giving these batteries a second life in stationary storage extends their usefulness and supports circular-economy goals, but large-scale reuse is held back by the lack of affordable monitoring solutions. We present a low-cost IoT-based sensor network architecture for remote monitoring and SoH/SoC estimation in second-life batteries. The proposed system employs ESP32-based acquisition nodes integrated with low-cost voltage, current, and temperature sensors, with an estimated hardware cost below USD 15 per node. Measurement data are transmitted through the HTTPS protocol to an edge-server platform for storage, visualization, and analysis. SoC estimation is performed using Coulomb Counting combined with Open-Circuit Voltage (OCV) correction, while SoH assessment is based on capacity estimation derived from operational measurements. The architecture is designed to support the simultaneous monitoring of multiple battery cells. In this study, the hardware architecture is validated using a DC power supply emulating cell behavior, while the SoC and SoH estimation algorithms are evaluated via Monte Carlo simulations on a synthetic dataset. Future experimental validation will integrate cells recovered from electric vehicles to assess long-term monitoring stability. Our study seeks to assess the technical viability of the proposed architecture as a cost-effective alternative for monitoring second-life battery systems, particularly in applications where commercial battery management solutions may be economically impractical.

La ingeniería de control es una carrera transversal a muchas otras ingenierías y, por lo tanto, influye en el desarrollo de los procesos industriales y tecnológicos. Con los nuevos desarrollos tecnológicos en áreas como Internet de las Cosas, Inteligencia artificial, Big Data, entre otras, se hacen evidentes cambios importantes en la automatización y control para permanecer competitivos. El programa de ingeniería de control es protagonista en la denominada cuarta revolución industrial (4RI), por esta razón es necesario realizar cambios curriculares con base en la revisión de los contenidos ya establecidos en los programas académicos y así garantizar que los futuros ingenieros estén preparados para enfrentar los nuevos desafíos. Para estimar las necesidades de formación de los futuros ingenieros de control, este artículo presenta un estudio que identifica el contexto interno por medio de una recopilación exhaustiva de documentos de prospectiva, relacionados con las tendencias y problemáticas del área de interés, así como la selección de diferentes artículos académicos relacionados con nuevas metodologías de enseñanza. Los documentos son producidos por entes gubernamentales, organizaciones profesionales nacionales e internacionales y revistas científicas. Los resultados del análisis de la literatura destacan las necesidades formativas que deben ser cubiertas en un programa de ingeniería de control. Estos requisitos educativos son complementados con el análisis del contexto externo, el cual se establece a partir de una encuesta aplicada a los actores que tienen relación con el programa. El análisis de los datos provenientes de esta exploración se convierte en un conjunto de diferentes necesidades formativas relacionadas con las problemáticas y tendencias reportadas en los documentos. Con estos resultados, se pretende plantear una ruta de las temáticas más relevantes para el programa, planteando posibles cambios curriculares al mismo.