2 billion pounds of dirt and 1.7 trillion square feet later, Roomba celebrates its 10th anniversary (infographic)

Almost a decade ago, my blissful dreams of robot-aided couch-potato-dom were brutally crushed under the harsh realities of early adopterhood.

iRobot‘s Roomba, which promised to vacuum our houses for us, featured pitiful pick-up and puny batteries.

But that didn’t deter iRobot from its efforts to reinvent the world of grunt work. And persistence has paid off: Roomba is now 10 years old, and all grown up.

iRobot has sold over six million Roombas, each of which the company says cleans an average of 300 pounds of dirt over its janitorial lifespan. Add up the square feet covered, and you’ve got about 39 Rhode Islands, which is about 22 percent of Texas. Or 29 million football fields.

Perhaps more interestingly for YouTube fans, Roombas have been successfully ridden by turtles, babies, prairie dogs, and yes, of course, the obligatory cats and dogs.

Here’s the infographic:

photo credit: Ryan Harvey via photo pin cc

Hat tip: Mashable