The ARToolKit has already been included in Panda3D and is also included in the latest build. You don’t need to recompile panda.
This is something I found at the API reference (I don’t know if there isn’t more) panda3d.org/apiref.php?page=ARToolKit
It looks pretty straightforward and easy to use.
No, I don’t think there are any samples that use it around. But it looks very straightforward to use. Most likely, judging from the API page, it would be something like:
Create an ARToolKit object using ARToolKit.make(base.camera, etc etc)
Attach patterns to it using attachPattern(yourGlyphFile, yourPandaModel)
Keep calling analyze(whateverTexture) every frame
I could be wrong though. I totally never used it.