Systems and methods for automated wire pickup using image-based robot guidance. The machine vision-based system includes: a robot arm; a tool head coupled to the distal end of the robot arm and including a wire gripper motor; a wire gripper movably coupled to the tool head and operatively coupled to the wire gripper motor; a wire holder configured for clamping a wire; cameras mounted to the distal end of the robot arm and having first and second fields of view which intersect in a volume of space that includes the tip of the wire gripper and the wire holder; and a computer system configured to control operation of the robot arm motors and wire gripper motor. More specifically, the computer system is configured for visually estimating the position and orientation of a contact-equipped wire being held by the wire holder and then generating robot guidance to enable automated pickup of the end section of the wire by the wire gripper.