Capability (systems engineering)

Okay kiddo, have you ever played with a toy that has lots of different buttons and switches? Each button and switch does something different, right? Well, a system is like one really big toy with lots of buttons and switches that all work together to make something happen.

Now, when we talk about capability in systems engineering, we're talking about what the system is actually able to do - what it's capable of. And just like how you can't use a toy to do something it wasn't designed for (like using a doll to hammer nails), a system can only do what it was built to do.

So, when engineers design a system, they have to figure out what capabilities it needs to have. They ask questions like "What problems does this system need to solve?" and "What goals do we want this system to achieve?" Based on the answers to those questions, they decide what buttons and switches they need to include in the system.

Once the system is built, the engineers test it to make sure it's capable of doing all the things it was designed for. They might also test it to see if it can handle unexpected situations - like if a power outage happens, or if there's a big storm.

Overall, capability in systems engineering is all about figuring out what a system can actually do - and making sure it can do it well!