On the back two glass hold down screws / brackets you'll notice that they have blue wires running to them. I don't know what color wire does sensing on the hotend, but it's the other part of the "circuit".
You'll notice on the hotend there is a "nub" next to the actual place where the plastic is extruded out. How the DaVinci knows where the bed is located is by touching that "nub" to the glass hold down bracket. At that point it will sense a completed circuit and move the bed away and try the next point.
If the wire gets broken, it won't work. If the "nub" or the the brackets have gunk on them, it won't work. If the bed is so low that the printer gives up before it touches, it doesn't work.
On a side note, you can have the bed "way too high" and plastic gunk on it and it will eventually stop without damaging anything. The DaVinci will push the bed down compressing the springs and then reverse.