Abstract: An object detection method for vehicles, which employs at least one sensor S for cyclically detecting a vehicle's surroundings whose measured values M are projected into a freely definable grid G and are combinable into grid-based segments that can be assigned to identified objects O, and, in accordance with which, tracks for these objects O are ascertained which can be used for controlling vehicle functions. The cells Z of the grid G are designed to have incremental dimensions that differ in their incremental dimensions in the radial and/or circumferential direction in such a way that a functionally optimized object resolution is achieved.