Flippo has served as principal investigator or co-PI on several research projects. He has directly supervised four doctorate and master's students, and numerous undergraduate research students. He has presented to several conferences and groups on agricultural engineering, robotics, and terra-mechanics. He currently teaches four courses in off road vehicle design, drive train, mechatronics, hydraulics and research experimentation.

Flippo’s research goal is to mesh the state-of-the-art robotic technology with conventional and non-conventional food production to move toward sustainably feeding the world past 2050. The problem of sustainably feeding the world has two constraints: producing enough yield to feed the population while doing it in a sustainable way to continue past 2050. His research thrusts range from conventional agricultural machines to autonomous vehicles and the tools and implements used by them. Intelligently incorporated automation can provide a valid solution to deepen human-robot collaboration and meet our food, fuel, and fiber needs by better soil management, increased production, and responsible use of energy, water, and chemical products. There is much to learn in vehicle field dynamics, power requirements and alternative energy sources, networking, logistics, and autonomous precision farming. The paradigm in which we see the role for food production equipment can be drastically changed due to the opportunities and scale that these robotic vehicles allow. Small agricultural drones will affect the growing seasons due to their indefatigable nature and resilience to unfavorable weather conditions as well as bring a new precision to agriculture never realized before. These changes will impact and transform conventional food production with new possibilities in biodiversity, natural weeding, and pest management. Positive environmental impacts will be felt through use of hybrid power systems, better chemical and water management, and highly reduced soil compaction resulting in less erosion and chemical runoff.