Creando espacios extracurriculares de participación y formación de estudiantes para la industria 4.0

The use of modern tools for the development of robotic applications and integration with artificial intelligence platforms has skyrocketed in academic and research environments in recent years, a growing trend that is closely followed by industrial environments that increasingly demand automa-tion and interconnection of its processes in what has been called Industry 4.0. In this context, the Robot Operating System (ROS) acquires strategic importance, being one of the most widely used environments for development of robotic applications. Given the importance of such tools, and the urgent necessity of expert professionals in these areas, a new research hotbed was created derived from the student branch RAS - IEEE (Robotic & Automation Society) and conformed by students of different engineering areas and semesters. In RAS, the participants learn the tools for developing applications on commercial robotic platforms used at the industry level and robotics-oriented artifi-cial intelligence applications. The RAS - IEEE student group currently links students of Electronic Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering and Data Science. To achieve the proposed objectives in learning the tools and generation of knowledge, a work model is established based on semestral projects that build a body of knowledge in the areas of robotics and artificial intelligence and, secondly, a training model through a mentoring program, to help new members transition to learning and using the tools. This article discusses the challenges of creating the research hotbed and the positive impacts observed over four semesters of work, as well as future projections and recommendations.