A generalized strategy for measuring performance in the velocity-position phase plane

ABSTRACT Recent work has proposed the reformulation of smoothness measures derived from standard integrated squared jerk, as a function of position, not time. However, its promulgation was in the context of monotonic excursion data extracted from single degree-of-freedom (DOF) movements; the result was a formulation of a phase smoothness measure with limited generalizability. Here, we present a complete methodology for implementing the phase smoothness measure in arbitrary datasets, i.e. for multi-DOF movements with no assumptions of monotonicity in the kinematic profile. Additional suggestions are made for best practices.