Patent ID: 8476912

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 to identify sensor plates located in one or more regions of relative high capacitance, as well as sensor plates located in one or more regions of relative low capacitance; and a plurality of indicators coupled to the controller, each indicator capable of toggling between a deactivated state and an activated state, wherein the controller is configured to activate one or more of the indicators to identify the location of region(s) of relative high capacitance.