MaxiCode
More info
- Type
- 2D barcode
- Creator
- UPS
- Released
- 1992
A UPS 2D barcode from 1992, built to be read at full speed on a moving parcel belt.
The code is a grid of hexagonal dots around a central bullseye of rings, which lets the reader find and orient it regardless of rotation or speed. UPS created it in 1992 to sort parcels in motion and placed it in the open so others could use it too.
It holds roughly a hundred characters — mostly address and routing data — and is fixed in size, unlike PDF417, which grows with its contents. The target in the middle earned it the nickname "bullseye code".