Free positioning charging pad

A method for detecting an object, comprising:

• searching a charging surface of a wireless charging device, including:
• providing pulses to a plurality of power transmitting coils in the charging surface, wherein each pulse is configured to cause an oscillation of a charging circuit coupled to one or more of the plurality of power transmitting coils;
• determining a rate of decay of the oscillation of the charging circuit or a frequency of the oscillation of the charging circuit;
• and
• determining that one or more power transmitting coils are proximate to one or more chargeable devices based on the rate of decay of the oscillation or the change in the frequency of the oscillation of a corresponding charging circuit;
• transmitting digital pings to the one or more power transmitting coils in accordance with standards-defined specifications for wireless charging after determining that the one or more power transmitting coils are proximate to the one or more chargeable devices;
• and
• determining a charging configuration for the one or more chargeable devices based on information encoded in a modulated signal received from the one or more chargeable devices in response to the digital pings sent to the one or more chargeable devices.