This paper introduces the types of floating elements and the measurement method of wall shear stress of floating elements. The basic principles and research status of capacitive, piezoresistive and optical wall shear stress sensors based on floating elements are described. The advantages and disadvantages of the three types of floating element wall shear stress sensors are analyzed. It is pointed out that the performance of the floating element wall shear stress sensor can be improved by optimizing the moving gap between the floating element and the sensor package, as well as the flatness between the floating element and the measured surface. The development direction of wall shear stress sensor with floating element in turbulent flow measurement, boundary layer transition judgment, aircraft safety maintenance and optimization of aircraft structure is also discussed. In the future, it is suggested that the MEMS technology can be developed, the back?end processing circuit and temperature compensation of the sensor can be optimized, and the moving gap and uniformity between the floating element sensor structures can be optimized by the integrated design and processing method to further improve the miniaturization of the floating element wall shear stress sensor, the sensitivity and accuracy of detecting the extremely low value of wall shear stress, and the reliability and accuracy of measurement.