Smart paint stick devices and methods

A system for locating buried objects, the system comprising:

• a buried object locator comprising:
• a first wireless communication component;
• and
• a tracking component configured to detect a location of a buried object;
• and
• a paint stick configured to cause a paint container to dispense paint and/or an RFID marker at a first position associated with the location of the buried, wherein the paint stick comprises:
• a second wireless communication component configured to communicate with the first communication component of the locator, wherein at least one of the first wireless communication component or the second wireless communication component is an RFID transmitter;
• a position determination component configured to transmit one or more range vector signals, wherein the tracking component is further configured to detect the one or more range vector signals;
• an inertial sensor configured to determine a first tilt angle of the paint stick in three-dimensional space;
• and
• a color determination component in the paint stick to determine a color of paint dispensed from the paint stick for transmission of the color to the buried locator;
• wherein the color determination component comprises a magnetic sensor associated with the paint container so as to correspond to a predefined paint color.

A system for locating buried objects, the system comprising:

• a buried object locator comprising:
• a first wireless communication component;
• and
• a tracking component configured to detect a location of a buried object;
• and
• a paint stick configured to cause a paint container to dispense paint and/or an RFID marker at a first position associated with the location of the buried, wherein the paint stick comprises:
• a second wireless communication component configured to communicate with the first communication component of the locator, wherein at least one of the first wireless communication component or the second wireless communication component is an RFID transmitter;
• a position determination component configured to transmit one or more range vector signals, wherein the tracking component is further configured to detect the one or more range vector signals;
• an inertial sensor configured to determine a first tilt angle of the paint stick in three-dimensional space;
• and
• a color determination component in the paint stick to determine a color of paint dispensed from the paint stick for transmission of the color to the buried object locator, wherein the color determination component comprises a magnetic sensor associated with the paint container so as to correspond to a predefined paint color.