Animal nail cutting apparatus

An animal nail trimming apparatus comprising:

• a fixed blade including an aperture sized and shaped to receive a portion of an animal nail;
• a movable blade configured to slide past the fixed blade to effectuate cutting;
• a sensor board located proximate to the fixed blade;
• a metallic sensor plate on a forward edge of the sensor board;
• a main control board electrically linked to the sensor board and separated from the sensor board;
• a quick-indicator LED array;
• and
• a microcontroller on the main control board, the microcontroller including an analog-to-digital converter (ADC),
• the microcontroller configured to:
• drive the sensor plate;
• obtain ADC readings corresponding to charge or discharge time, rather than relying solely on an analog frequency reference;
• when the sensor plate is exposed to air with no nail or quick present in front of the sensor plate, store a baseline value based on one or more of the ADC readings;
• obtain additional ADC readings;
• derive a first count from the additional ADC readings;
• compare the first count to the baseline value;
• and
• trigger a corresponding output on the quick-indicator LED array prior to completion of a cut.