First I'd like to say I just got my kit and I'm having a blast. I got to the point where I uploaded my first program and I've edited it a bit. I got the third line to blink! It only took me an hour and a half to figure out the code. I suppose no one is an expert over night.

Anyway, I have 20 characters to work with. I want a * to start in the middle and then it to fill up all 20 spaces with *** ect and then repeat that. I'm not sure where to begin putting this into code. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Hi Zach,

I am glad you are having fun with the NerdKit. Let's see if I can get you going in the right direction with your idea. Take a look at the following code:

// LED as output
lcd_init();
FILE lcd_stream = FDEV_SETUP_STREAM(lcd_putchar, 0, _FDEV_SETUP_WRITE);
lcd_home();

uint8_t i;
while(1){
  lcd_clear_and_home();
  lcd_line_one();
  for(i=0;i<20;i++){
    lcd_write_string(PSTR("*"));
    delay_ms(20);
  }
}

If you put this in your main function, the top line will fill in with stars starting from the beginning. I used a simple for loop that writes a single * to the screen every time. Modifying this idea to fill the stars in from the middle will require some thinking. Give it a shot and let us know what you come up with.

Humberto