Ricardo Villarroel-Molina
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Ricardo Villarroel-Molina has a total of 14 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Carlos Michael Alvarado Mendoza
Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo
2 shared publications - Ivan Freddy Jaramillo
Facultad de Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120501, Ecuador
2 shared publications - Javier Guaña-Moya
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador
2 shared publications - Wilson Iván Sánchez Paredes
Universidad Técnica de Ambato
2 shared publications - Alejandro Vilcacundo-Chiluisa
Facultad de Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120501, Ecuador
1 shared publication Angelita Romero Poveda
Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 24 July 2026
- Published by MDPI AG in Algorithms
- Vol. 19 (8) , 618
A Machine Learning-Based Predictive Model for Maintenance Management of Combustion Engines in the Agricultural Sector
Maintenance management of stationary combustion engines in the agricultural sector remains largely manual, increasing the risk of unplanned downtime. This study developed a machine learning-based predictive model to anticipate failures within a 60-day horizon, enabling the transition from reactive to proactive maintenance. Following the CRISP-DM (Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining) framework, a sliding-window feature engineering pipeline was built from 2250 historical records spanning 59 engines. Four ensemble learners (Random Forest, LightGBM, XGBoost, and CatBoost) were then compared under two complementary protocols: a strict 60/40 chronological split simulating deployment, and a stratified leave-engine-group-out cross-validation withholding entire engines from training. Nonparametric testing (DeLong test and engine-level cluster bootstrap) showed that the four learners are statistically equivalent, whereas the feature engineering layer contributes a large, significant discrimination gain (ΔAUC , ) on engines unseen during training. Random Forest, selected as the final model, achieved an AUC of 0.90 with 84.2% recall under the deployment protocol and 0.96 with 90.7% recall under engine-grouped validation. Temporal extrapolation, rather than cross-engine generalization, appeared to be the primary challenge, indicating that rigorously engineered degradation features, more than the choice of ensemble algorithm, drive predictive performance in agricultural maintenance planning.- 24 July 2026
- Published by MDPI AG in Algorithms
- Vol. 19 (8) , 618
Open AccessA Machine Learning-Based Predictive Model for Maintenance Management of Combustion Engines in the Agricultural Sector
Maintenance management of stationary combustion engines in the agricultural sector remains largely manual, increasing the risk of unplanned downtime. This study developed a machine learning-based predictive model to anticipate failures within a 60-day horizon, enabling the transition from reactive to proactive maintenance. Following the CRISP-DM (Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining) framework, a sliding-window feature engineering pipeline was built from 2250 historical records spanning 59 engines. Four ensemble learners (Random Forest, LightGBM, XGBoost, and CatBoost) were then compared under two complementary protocols: a strict 60/40 chronological split simulating deployment, and a stratified leave-engine-group-out cross-validation withholding entire engines from training. Nonparametric testing (DeLong test and engine-level cluster bootstrap) showed that the four learners are statistically equivalent, whereas the feature engineering layer contributes a large, significant discrimination gain (ΔAUC , ) on engines unseen during training. Random Forest, selected as the final model, achieved an AUC of 0.90 with 84.2% recall under the deployment protocol and 0.96 with 90.7% recall under engine-grouped validation. Temporal extrapolation, rather than cross-engine generalization, appeared to be the primary challenge, indicating that rigorously engineered degradation features, more than the choice of ensemble algorithm, drive predictive performance in agricultural maintenance planning. - Open Access
- 31 July 2025
- Published by Oriente-Manabí Editorial in Innova Science Journal
- Vol. 3 (3) , 400-421
Inteligencia Artificial en la Educación: Avances, Retos Éticos y Perspectivas Pedagógicas.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative axis in the educational field, promoting new forms of personalized learning, institutional management, and automated assessment. This study aims to systematically and critically analyze the main technological advances, ethical challenges, and pedagogical perspectives surrounding the implementation of AI in education. A structured literature review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, covering 43 articles published between 2021 and 2025, selected from renowned academic databases. The findings reveal an increasing use of adaptive platforms, intelligent tutoring systems, and predictive analytics, as well as concerns related to privacy, algorithmic bias, and the redefinition of the teacher's role. The conclusions highlight the need for regulatory frameworks and human-centered pedagogical approaches that promote a critical, inclusive, and ethical integration of AI in educational settings.
- 31 July 2025
- Published by Oriente-Manabí Editorial in Innova Science Journal
- Vol. 3 (3) , 400-421
Open AccessInteligencia Artificial en la Educación: Avances, Retos Éticos y Perspectivas Pedagógicas.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative axis in the educational field, promoting new forms of personalized learning, institutional management, and automated assessment. This study aims to systematically and critically analyze the main technological advances, ethical challenges, and pedagogical perspectives surrounding the implementation of AI in education. A structured literature review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, covering 43 articles published between 2021 and 2025, selected from renowned academic databases. The findings reveal an increasing use of adaptive platforms, intelligent tutoring systems, and predictive analytics, as well as concerns related to privacy, algorithmic bias, and the redefinition of the teacher's role. The conclusions highlight the need for regulatory frameworks and human-centered pedagogical approaches that promote a critical, inclusive, and ethical integration of AI in educational settings.
- Open Access
- 18 February 2024
- Published by Instituto Superior Tecnológico Vicente León in Revista VICTEC
- Vol. 5 (8) , 81-94
Post-pandemic: organizational climate and job satisfaction inapublic company
The relationship between organizational climate, which encompasses shared attitudes and values in an organization, and job satisfaction, which reflects employees' perceptions of their work, was examined in the Public Mobility Company of the Commonwealth of Cotopaxi. Using a quantitative approach and a descriptive correlational methodology, questionnaires from Araujo et al. (2011) to evaluate the organizational climate and Sotomayor, F. (2013) for job satisfaction of 73 employees. The results revealed a moderate relationship (Spearman coefficient of 0.603) between the variables, both with high scores (4/5), indicating a positive environment and satisfied employees. Se examinó la relación entre clima organizacional, que abarca actitudes y valores compartidos en una organización, y la satisfacción laboral, que refleja las percepciones de los empleados sobre su trabajo en la Empresa Pública de Movilidad de la Mancomunidad de Cotopaxi. Utilizando un enfoque cuantitativo y una metodología descriptiva correlacional, se aplicaron cuestionarios de Araujo et al. (2011) para evaluar el clima organizacional y de Sotomayor, F. (2013) para satisfacción laboral a 73 colaboradores. Los resultados revelaron una relación moderada (coeficiente de Spearman de 0.603) entre las variables, ambas con altas puntuaciones (4/5), indicando un ambiente positivo y empleados satisfechos.
- 18 February 2024
- Published by Instituto Superior Tecnológico Vicente León in Revista VICTEC
- Vol. 5 (8) , 81-94
Open AccessPost-pandemic: organizational climate and job satisfaction inapublic company
The relationship between organizational climate, which encompasses shared attitudes and values in an organization, and job satisfaction, which reflects employees' perceptions of their work, was examined in the Public Mobility Company of the Commonwealth of Cotopaxi. Using a quantitative approach and a descriptive correlational methodology, questionnaires from Araujo et al. (2011) to evaluate the organizational climate and Sotomayor, F. (2013) for job satisfaction of 73 employees. The results revealed a moderate relationship (Spearman coefficient of 0.603) between the variables, both with high scores (4/5), indicating a positive environment and satisfied employees. Se examinó la relación entre clima organizacional, que abarca actitudes y valores compartidos en una organización, y la satisfacción laboral, que refleja las percepciones de los empleados sobre su trabajo en la Empresa Pública de Movilidad de la Mancomunidad de Cotopaxi. Utilizando un enfoque cuantitativo y una metodología descriptiva correlacional, se aplicaron cuestionarios de Araujo et al. (2011) para evaluar el clima organizacional y de Sotomayor, F. (2013) para satisfacción laboral a 73 colaboradores. Los resultados revelaron una relación moderada (coeficiente de Spearman de 0.603) entre las variables, ambas con altas puntuaciones (4/5), indicando un ambiente positivo y empleados satisfechos.
- Open Access
- 18 February 2024
- Published by Instituto Superior Tecnológico Vicente León in Revista VICTEC
- Vol. 5 (8) , 95-104
Analysis of Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Using Data Science Techniques
Cybersecurity analysis using data science and machine learning plays a crucial role in today's digital era, where information security has become imperative for organizations. This study focuses on the intersection between cybersecurity and data science, using machine learning methods and text analytics to understand and strengthen defenses against threats. The importance of TF-IDF (Term-Inverse Document Frequency) is highlighted as a tool to evaluate the relevance of terms in documents and its application in vulnerability classification.The Multinomial Naive Bayes classifier is presented as an efficient tool in text classification, calculating probabilities of belonging to specific classes based on the frequency of terms. The essential formulas used in this algorithm, such as conditional probability and multinomial distribution, are detailed.The KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases) methodology guides the process, from datacollection on platforms like Kaggle to data selection, cleaning and transformation. The use of `TfidfVectorizer` facilitates the discretization of text data, and the `GridSearchCV` method optimizes the model's hyperparameters, achieving an accuracy of 97.36%. Finally, the confusion matrix reveals good overall performance, although areas for improvement are identified, especially in the 'High' class.
- 18 February 2024
- Published by Instituto Superior Tecnológico Vicente León in Revista VICTEC
- Vol. 5 (8) , 95-104
Open AccessAnalysis of Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Using Data Science Techniques
Cybersecurity analysis using data science and machine learning plays a crucial role in today's digital era, where information security has become imperative for organizations. This study focuses on the intersection between cybersecurity and data science, using machine learning methods and text analytics to understand and strengthen defenses against threats. The importance of TF-IDF (Term-Inverse Document Frequency) is highlighted as a tool to evaluate the relevance of terms in documents and its application in vulnerability classification.The Multinomial Naive Bayes classifier is presented as an efficient tool in text classification, calculating probabilities of belonging to specific classes based on the frequency of terms. The essential formulas used in this algorithm, such as conditional probability and multinomial distribution, are detailed.The KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases) methodology guides the process, from datacollection on platforms like Kaggle to data selection, cleaning and transformation. The use of `TfidfVectorizer` facilitates the discretization of text data, and the `GridSearchCV` method optimizes the model's hyperparameters, achieving an accuracy of 97.36%. Finally, the confusion matrix reveals good overall performance, although areas for improvement are identified, especially in the 'High' class.
- Open Access
- 19 December 2023
- Published by Editorial Grupo de Asesoria Empresarial y Academica
Elementos básicos de Análisis Inteligente de Datos
Este libro trata sobre conceptos elementales junto con scripts cortos de código basado en R Project para hacer análisis inteligente de datos. La relación entre la teoría y la práctica es fundamental en la comprensión de una disciplina, así la aplicación de procedimientos y funciones específicas en tareas elementales es el propósito de este texto. La idea central del texto tiene origen en la asignatura denominada “Análisis Inteligente de Datos”, una cátedra en la que el profesor aporta con elementos fundamentales basados en conceptos y ejercicios prácticos usando R Project. Hoy en día, la disponibilidad de herramientas para la minería de datos es sin duda muy grande. Usuarios con conocimientos básicos pueden aprovechar de utilitarios intuitivos implementados en poderosos entornos de desarrollo. Nosotros hemos querido dar un enfoque al texto hacia una audiencia con mayor relación a la programación y software. Específicamente que constituya una guía básica para estudiantes que inician en el campo de la Inteligencia de datos.
- 19 December 2023
- Published by Editorial Grupo de Asesoria Empresarial y Academica
Open AccessElementos básicos de Análisis Inteligente de Datos
Este libro trata sobre conceptos elementales junto con scripts cortos de código basado en R Project para hacer análisis inteligente de datos. La relación entre la teoría y la práctica es fundamental en la comprensión de una disciplina, así la aplicación de procedimientos y funciones específicas en tareas elementales es el propósito de este texto. La idea central del texto tiene origen en la asignatura denominada “Análisis Inteligente de Datos”, una cátedra en la que el profesor aporta con elementos fundamentales basados en conceptos y ejercicios prácticos usando R Project. Hoy en día, la disponibilidad de herramientas para la minería de datos es sin duda muy grande. Usuarios con conocimientos básicos pueden aprovechar de utilitarios intuitivos implementados en poderosos entornos de desarrollo. Nosotros hemos querido dar un enfoque al texto hacia una audiencia con mayor relación a la programación y software. Específicamente que constituya una guía básica para estudiantes que inician en el campo de la Inteligencia de datos.