Patent ID: 8836347

Claim:
An obscured feature detector comprising: a plurality of sensor plates, each having a capacitance that varies based on: (a) the proximity of the sensor plate to one or more surrounding objects, and (b) the dielectric constant(s) of the surrounding object(s); a sensing circuit coupled to the sensor plates, the circuit being configured to measure the capacitances of the sensor plates; a controller coupled to the sensing circuit, the controller being configured to analyze the capacitances measured by the sensing circuit; and a plurality of indicators coupled to the controller, each indicator capable of toggling between a first state and a second state, wherein the controller is configured to set a first group of the indicators in the first state when each respective indicator in the first group is located in front of an obscured feature and to set a second group of the indicators in the second state when each respective indicator in the second group is not located in front of the obscured feature, such that the first group of indicators in the first state identifies a location of the obscured feature and a number of indicators in the first state identifies a width of the obscured feature.