In this 7. chapter of the construction process the combination of part solutions will be described on the example of a spaceship, because even the Author is getting bored by the technical detail.

Available part solutions

It is assumed that we had to solve the following part functions:

• Propulsion by choosing different engines.
• Energy generation by chosing a variety of power sources.
• Protection by listing several defense mechanisms.

Engine

1. Hyperdrive

The hyperdrive allowed travelers to traverse a galaxy spanning over 120,000 light years in only a few hours or days, the exact travel time depending on a number of factors including destination, point of origin, route, and class of hyperdrive.

Source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperdrive

2. Warp-Drive

On Federation starships, the warp core usually consists of a matter/antimatter reaction assembly(M/ARA) utilizing deuterium and antideuterium reacting in a dilithium crystal matrix which produces a maximum output of 4,000 teradynes per second.

Source: http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_drive

3. Warp-Engine

The Warp-Drive, or Warp Engines, are devices integrated into spacecraft used by many intelligent races to actually enter the Warp, an alternate dimension of purely psychic energy that echoes and underlies the familiar four dimensions of realspace, making them capable of a form of faster-than-light travel known as Warp travel or Warp jumping.

Source: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warp-Drive

4. Orion drive

The Orion concept offered high thrust and high specific impuls, or propellant efficiency, at the same time. The unprecedented extreme power requirements for doing so would be met by nuclear explosions, of such power relative to the vehicle's mass as to be survived only by using external detonations without attempting to contain them in internal structures.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29

Power

1. Photovoltaic

Operating silently and without any moving parts or environmental emissions, PV systems have developed from being niche market applications into a mature technology used for mainstream electricity generation.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaics

2. Antimatter

The present set of complementary inventions refer to a system for the practical and inexpensive procurement of huge amounts of energy derived from the principles of matter-antimatter generation and annihilation.

Source: https://www.google.com/patents/US20070110208

3. Fusion power

Fusion reactions are high energy reactions in which two lighter atomic nuclei fuse to form a heavier nucleus. This major area of plasma physics research is concerned with harnessing this reaction as a source of large scale sustainable energy

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power

4. Naquadah reactor

In 1999 the Orbanians loaned one of their generators to the Tau'ri as they were developing their own prototype. By 2005 the Tau'ri had developed three different types of portable naquadah generators, as well as several larger ones for use on their ships. At this point they most likely surpassed the energy produced by the original Orbanian device.

Source: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Naquadah_reactor

Defense

1. Drones

A military starship at general quarters surrounds itself with a “cloud” of small defense drones, serving multiple purposes: defense, signal jamming, obscuring of the signature and more.

Source: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardefense.php

2. Point-Defense-Laser

The point-defense zone guarded by the point-defense-laser grid, extending substantially outward from the ship itself. Composed of phased-array plasma lasers which can be generated across large regions of the starship’s hull, the point-defense grid is used to vaporize incoming projectiles.

Source: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardefense.php

3. Drunk walk

If we don't know what we're doing, the enemy certainly can't anticipate our future actions! 

When at any alert state higher than peacetime cruising, every military starship engages in a pseudo-random “drunk walk” of vector changes around its station-keeping point or base course. This ensures that the starship is almost impossible to achieve a firing solution upon from a distance.

Source: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardefense.php

4. Quantum-crystalline armor

Quantum-crystalline armor was designed to withstand incredible forces. It was made possible by stacking a few layers of atoms as densely as the laws of physics could permit, and laminating them above another thin film that was as strong, but phase shifted.

Source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Quantum-crystalline_armor

Combining for a complete solution

With all these options combined, the table of combinations can be arranged:

As can be seen, the seperate solutions are presented structured by function to allow a good overview. While here are only 3 functions with 4 solutions, the grid in praxis can grow considerably larger with the amount of complexity the product has.

As the name says. the table of combination is used for combining the different solutions. This should be done while keeping the abilities of the different solutions in mind. It is of high importance to combine solutions that don't conflict with each other.

In this example the following 3 combinations were made:

A: A spaceship with hyperdrive, powered by an antimatter generator with Point-Defense-Laser.

Reasoning: The three solutions have in common to be high efficient and very reliable. The PDL can be powered by the ship and offers a reliable defense.

B: This spaceship uses nuclear bombs for propulsion and is also powered by a nuclear fusion reactor. Its defense consists of applying the Drunk-Walk strategy.

Reasoning: Propulsion through the orion drive is quite high and compared to the other options quite cheap. Since the ship is already carrying nuklear devices, a nuclear fusion reactore will make a good fit. The defence can be fulfilled by flying zigzag, since the ship is dropping nukes continuously anyway. Alone this makes it an interesting combination.

C: A spaceship that travels through the horror of the warp, powered by a naquadah reactor and protected by invincible quantum-crystalline armor.

Reasoning: Not many cosmic captains would dare to travers through the warp. This makes it also an opportunity against other ships. Using the highly reliable naquadah reactor and the impenetrable quantum-crystalline armor guaranty a travel as safe as it can be.

This combinations have been made by taking into consideration the separate abilities of the solutions. There is no technical approach that can give a clear answer about the best way to combine the solutions beforehand.

As a small reminder: With these 12 part solutions , it is possible to make 4^3 = 64 combinations. That also means that  a lot of very stupid combinations are possible. One example: Using the orion drive and the photovoltaics. Detonating nukes close to a sensible solar panel can't have good results.

After deciding on three or more combinations, the best overall solution has to be declared.

Result

The twelve partial solutions where arranged in a table for better overview. Via subjective favor, they were then joined into 3 combinations. 

These combinations  have been chosen due to their separate abilities and now have to be compared. The decision will show their ability to fulfill their requirements as best as possible.

The comparison is done via weighted criterias, in the next chapter.

Thank you very much for reading!

To be continued

Did you already read... 

the first part: What does an Engineer do?

the second part: The first STEP on the way to YOUR Product: Inventing

the third part: The Other Kind of Research: Put your IDEA into the World

the fourth part: The Requirement List: The ENGINEERS way of TAKING AIM

the fifth part: Function Analysis: No Maths but still solving Problems

the sixt part: Part Solutions: Solving one function after another