Sensor for moving equipment

A sensor of a touch sensitive area for detecting a direction of an actuating force, comprising:

• a first and a second layer of electrodes;
• a dielectric elastomer;
• a deformable surface;
• wherein the first and the second layer are spaced apart by the dielectric elastomer in a variable distance according to a pressure force acting on the sensor;
• wherein one of the first or second layer of electrodes comprises at least one electrode that at least partly overlaps with at least two electrodes of the other one of the second or first layer of electrodes;
• wherein a local change of capacity detects and provides information about strain and direction of an acting force;
• wherein the direction of the acting force is in concordance with an intended moving direction of movable equipment fixedly attached to the sensor;
• and
• wherein the detected force comprises a compressive force and a shear force.

A method for moving equipment, comprising the following steps:

• a) touching a deformable capacitive sensor of a sensor unit of a user interface, which sensor unit is attached to a movable equipment;
• b) generating a control signal in dependency from a detected strain and direction of a force applied by a user to the at least one touch sensitive area, wherein the detected force comprises a compressive force and a shear force;
• c) providing the generated control signal to a central processing unit;
• and
• d) actuating a motor-driven positioning unit based on the control signal.