A magnetic coupling wind energy harvester for unmanned surface vehicles

•A hybrid wind energy harvesting system is designed for unmanned surface vehicles.•The double magnets coupling mechanism is proposed and the dynamic model is explored.•The proposed magnet coupling mechanism can effectively reduce resistance torque by 32.9 %.•The optimal mode of magnet arrangement can broaden the wind bandwidth by about 1.5 m/s.•The experiment results showed an average output power of 22.2 mW at the wind speed of 5 m/s.