I have a project that requires using steppers motors to work within centimeters from a wireless RF transmitter and receiver. I am using this stepper https://www.adafruit.com/product/858, the transmitter is FS1000A and the receiver is XY-MK-5V.The signal transmitted is a square wave with period modulation.
I can send data between the two chips with two PIC24Fs and I can spin the motors. But I can see the noise on the oscilloscope in the RF signal and every once in awhile (2 in 5 minutes) the signal output from the receiver gets very noisy and then flatlines. I have to reset the PICs before it comes back. This only happens when the stepper motors are spinning.
Is there a way to insulate the stepper motor so it does not interfere with the transmission? Or is there a slightly more expensive RF chips I can use that this wouldn't happen to?
Best Answer
Add capacitors before the motor.
Put wire mesh or screen around the motor and wires to act as a Faraday shield.
Make sure your ground game is on point too. Try connecting a wire directly from the RX to the negative terminal of your power supply. Or do that with the motor, or both.