I have an odd question. Say I have a battery powered Arduino attached to an Xbee, and they're monitoring when a stun gun located 6 inches away is activated. When the stun gun goes off will the EMP blast fry the electronics, especially the Xbee because of its antenna? If so, is there a way to put a faraday cage around them for protection but still be able to transmit data? Is the faraday cage still effective if both it and the Arduino+Xbee are isolated from ground?
Thanks,
Bryan
If you add shielding you will affect incoming and outgoing transmission. You
may be able play with partial shielding so you could protect most of the device
from EMP while allowing transmission.
A Faraday cage does not require grounding. It forms an equi-potential surface. Since
there is no potential different you do not current flow inside the cage due to the
potential of the cage.
(* jcl *)
A faraday cage will keep the RF in, so the xbee will be isolated.
I don't think the EMP from the stun gun will be enough to damage the electronics; the stun gun transmits energy through the wires, not via EM.
There could be enough EM noise to make the arduino (or, more likely, the xbee) lock up, or reset, or do other crazy things, but my guess is nothing will be damaged.
-j