Our favorite food when hacking on code or electronics is a hot bowl of noodles — and around NYC these are often called “noods!” What we've got here are flexible LED noodles, in different colors. Not good for eatin' but they are good for cool lighting effects!

These are often seen in “Edison-like” LED bulbs, shaped into hearts or stars or just wound around to create a fun or warm lighting effect. They’re made of dozens of LED diodes that are bonded together on an ultra flexible metal backing, then coated in colorful silicone for protection. Since the LEDs are in parallel, you only need 3V to light ’em up.

Add some mini, noodle-y neon bling to your miniature sets, dioramas, dollhouses, mini-verses, what have you!

"nOOds" is spelled "n capital-O capital-O d s" (no zeros in there).

Differences Between nOOds and EL Wire

There are some pros and cons compared to electroluminescent (EL) wire…

Pros:

• nOOds run off regular DC current. They do not require a special power source (inverter) and do not make any noise.
• nOOds are even more flexible than EL wire. They withstand tighter bends (on one axis) and more frequent flexing.
• nOOds can be dimmed and animated with pulse width modulation (PWM), from a PWM driver IC or even straight off a microcontroller pin.

Cons:

• nOOds can not be cut to different lengths. The length they arrive from the factory is what you get, period. The “Tips and Tricks” page offers some ideas on changing the apparent length.
• nOOds require connections at both ends. That said, it’s a simple connection, not like the fussy structure of EL wire.

Parts