Design, fabrication, and characterization of a compliant shear force sensor for a human–machine interface

•Novel compliant shear force sensor for use in an anti-decubitus system.•Sensor is capable of determining the magnitude, the direction, and the sense of direction of the shear force.•Sensor characteristic determined with the metrological tests (characteristic of v=0) has a high linearity (R2=0.998) in the application of the shear force in the range of 2.6–6.8N.•Sensor is simple, inexpensive, consists of commercially available highly elastic materials.