Embodiments provide a method of using image-based tube top circle detection that includes extracting, from one of a series of images of a tube tray, a region of interest (ROI) patch having a target tube top circle and boundaries constrained by two dimensional (2D) projections of different types of tube top circle centers. The method also includes calculating an edge gradient magnitude map of the ROI patch and constructing a three dimensional (3D) map of a circle parameter space, each location in the 3D map corresponding to a circle parameter having a center location and a diameter. The method further includes accumulating weighted votes in the 3D map from edge points in the edge gradient magnitude map along edge point gradient directions, determining locations in the 3D map as circle candidates based on the accumulated votes and selecting a target tube top circle based on the greatest accumulated votes.