In contrast to pressure distributions that can nowadays easily be measured using commercial sensor sheets, this is not yet the case for frictional or shear stresses. Those stresses act parallel to a surface which makes it more challenging to develop suitable sensors. A number of shear sensor prototypes have been reported until now, but realizing a matrix of shear sensors remains a big challenge because of cost and complexity issues. Therefore, this paper presents a fabrication approach for realizing a matrix of shear sensors using standard PCB and moulding technologies. The presented sensor is based on changing the coupling of optical power between a Light Emitting Diode and a set of photodiodes in combination with an overmoulding step, as such realizing a mechanical transducer. To demonstrate the fabrication flow, a first demonstrator incorporating a 5-taxel sensor matrix has been realized, able to record the in-plane shear stress magnitude and direction.

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