The disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of processing information to use when producing a mission plan to accomplish a mission. The example method includes obtaining one or more mission goals to be achieved during execution of the mission and obtaining information relating to one or more resources to be used during execution of the mission. The information relating to at least one of the resources includes uncertainty. The example method also includes obtaining user preferences relating to how the uncertainty is to be handled, transforming the information relating to the one or more resources according to the user preferences to reduce the uncertainty in the information and providing the transformed information to a smart process manager, for use by the smart process manager to identify one or more of the resources that are to be used to execute at least one mission step as part of at least one mission plan to achieve the one or more mission goals and accomplish the mission.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A computer-implemented method of processing information to use when producing a mission plan to accomplish a mission, the method comprising: obtaining one or more mission goals to be achieved during execution of the mission; obtaining information relating to one or more resources to be used during execution of the mission, wherein the information relating to at least one of the resources includes uncertainty; obtaining user preferences relating to how the uncertainty is to be handled; transforming, via a processor, the information relating to the one or more resources according to the user preferences to reduce the uncertainty in the information; and providing, via the processor, the transformed information to a smart process manager, for use by the smart process manager to identify one or more of the resources that are to be used to execute at least one mission step as part of at least one mission plan to achieve the one or more mission goals and accomplish the mission. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: identifying, based on the transformed information, the one or more of the resources that are to be used in at least one mission step as part of at least one mission plan to accomplish the one or more mission goals; producing, based on the identified resources, at least one mission plan to accomplish the one or more mission goals; and providing the at least one mission plan to a user. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information relating to each resource comprises at least one of an execution time score indicating a time for the respective resource to execute its part of the mission, an execution cost score indicating a cost for the respective resource to execute its part of the mission, an availability score indicating a level of availability of the respective resource to execute its part of the mission or an efficiency score indicating a level of efficiency of the respective resource when executing its part of the mission. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein: obtaining the user preferences comprises obtaining one or more threshold values, each threshold value relating to one of the execution cost score, the execution time score, the efficiency score or the availability score; and transforming the information comprises at least one of: if a cost threshold value is obtained, transforming the execution cost score for each resource to an absolute indication of cost having two possible values corresponding to whether or not the respective resource is costly by comparing the execution cost score to the cost threshold value; if a time threshold value is obtained, transforming the execution time score for each resource to an absolute indication of time having two possible values corresponding to whether the respective resource is fast or slow by comparing the execution time score to the time threshold value; if an availability threshold value is obtained, transforming the availability score for each resource to an absolute indication of availability having two possible values corresponding to whether or not the respective resource is available by comparing the availability score to the availability threshold value; or if an efficiency threshold value is obtained, transforming the efficiency score for each resource to an absolute indication of efficiency having two possible values corresponding to whether or not the respective resource is efficient or inefficient by comparing the efficiency score to the efficiency threshold value. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the smart process manager is to identify as useable, to execute the at least one mission step as part of the at least one mission plan, a resource having at least one of an absolute indication of availability indicating that the resource is available, an absolute indication of efficiency indicating that the resource is efficient, an absolute indication of execution cost indicating that the resource is not costly, or an absolute indication of execution time indicating that the resource is not slow. 6. The method of claim 3, wherein: obtaining the user preferences comprises obtaining weighting factors to be applied to one or more of the execution time score, the execution cost score, the availability score or the efficiency score; and transforming the information relating to the one or more resources comprises aggregating the execution time score, the execution cost score, the availability score and the efficiency score for each resource as a weighted combination using the weighting factors to provide an overall resource score for each resource, the transformed information comprising the overall resource score for each resource. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein providing the transformed information comprises providing to the smart process manager the transformed information of those resources that have an overall resource score greater than a resource score threshold value, such that the resources having an overall resource score greater than the resource score threshold are considered by the smart process manager for inclusion in the at least one mission plan. 8. The method of claim 6 further comprising, for each of the at least one mission plan, totaling the resource scores for each of the resources used in the respective mission plan to produce a respective mission score associated with the respective mission plan, wherein the mission plans having an associated mission score greater than a mission score threshold value are provided to the user. 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising providing the at least one mission plan to a user, ranked in an order based upon the associated mission score for each mission plan. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein for each resource: the information relating to the respective resource comprises an assumed location of respective resource; and obtaining the information relating to the respective resource comprises deriving at least one of an execution time or an execution cost for the respective resource using the assumed location of the respective resource. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein: each assumed location has an associated radius of uncertainty; obtaining the user preferences further comprises obtaining from the user an indication as to the optimism to be associated with the assumed locations; and wherein the deriving is further based upon the indicated optimism and the respective radius of uncertainty associated with the assumed location of the respective resource. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein, for each resource: if indicated as most optimistic, the calculating comprises calculating a minimum possible execution time and/or a minimum possible execution cost, based on the assumed location of the respective resource, the associated radius of uncertainty of the respective resource, and a location of a target involved in the mission; and if indicated as least optimistic, the calculating comprises calculating a maximum possible execution time and/or a maximum possible execution cost, based on the assumed location of the respective resource, the associated radius of uncertainty of the respective resource, and a location of a target involved in the mission. 13. The method of claim 11 further comprising: executing a mission step of the at least one mission plan; updating at least one of the assumed location and the radius of uncertainty for at least one resource used in the executed mission step; and providing updated information to the smart process manager to produce a further mission step and/or an updated mission plan based on the updated assumed location and/or radius of uncertainty of the assumed location. 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying the obtained information relating to at least one of the resources that includes uncertainty, and wherein the transforming comprises transforming the identified obtained information. 15. A system comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: obtain one or more mission goals to be achieved during execution of a mission; obtain information relating to one or more resources to be used during execution of the mission, wherein the information relating to at least one of the resources includes uncertainty; obtain user preferences relating to how the uncertainty is to be handled; transform the information relating to the one or more resources according to the user preferences to reduce the uncertainty in the information; and provide the transformed information to a smart process manager, for use by the smart process manager to identify one or more of the resources that are to be used to execute at least one mission step as part of at least one mission plan to achieve the one or more mission goals and accomplish the mission. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to: identify, based on the transformed information, the one or more of the resources that are to be used in at least one mission step as part of at least one mission plan to accomplish the one or more mission goals; produce, based on the identified resources, at least one mission plan to accomplish the one or more mission goals; and provide the at least one mission plan to a user. 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the information relating to each resource comprises at least one of an execution time score indicating a time for the respective resource to execute its part of the mission, an execution cost score indicating a cost for the respective resource to execute its part of the mission, an availability score indicating a level of availability of the respective resource to execute its part of the mission or an efficiency score indicating a level of efficiency of the respective resource when executing its part of the mission. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is to: obtain the user preferences by obtaining one or more threshold values, each threshold value relating to one of the execution cost score, the execution time score, the efficiency score or an the availability score; and transform the information by at least one of: if a cost threshold value is obtained, transforming the execution cost score for each resource to an absolute indication of cost having two possible values corresponding to whether or not he respective resource is costly by comparing the execution cost score to the cost threshold value; if a time threshold value is obtained, transforming the execution time score for each resource to an absolute indication of time having two possible values corresponding to whether the respective resource is fast or slow by comparing the execution time score to the time threshold value; if an availability threshold value is obtained, transforming the availability score for each resource to an absolute indication of availability having two possible values corresponding to whether or not the respective resource is available by comparing the availability score to the availability threshold value; or if an efficiency threshold value is obtained, transforming the efficiency score for each resource to an absolute indication of efficiency having two possible values corresponding to whether or not the respective resource is efficient or inefficient by comparing the efficiency score to the efficiency threshold value. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the smart process manager is to identify as useable, to execute the at least one mission step as part of the at least one mission plan, a resource having at least one of an absolute indication of availability indicating that the resource is available, an absolute indication of efficiency indicating that the resource is efficient, an absolute indication of execution cost indicating that the resource is not costly, or an absolute indication of execution time indicating that the resource is not slow. 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is to: obtain the user preferences by obtaining weighting factors to be applied at least one of the execution time score, the execution cost score, the availability score or the efficiency score; and transform the information relating to the one or more resources by aggregating the execution time score, the execution cost score, the availability score and the efficiency score for each resource as a weighted combination using the weighting factors to provide an overall resource score for each resource, the transformed information comprising the overall resource score for each resource.